He flattered himself that she subjected herself to all this restraint for his sake; and whatever the _denouement_ might be, the situation was, at all events, an interesting one.
But there was, on the other hand, something in her manner that kept him at a certain distance, and left him in uncertainty as to what line exactly he should take.

The same had been the case whenever they had been together out on the island, and had in fact been the principal cause of his becoming more deeply in love with her every day.

He had once out there encountered a look in her steel-grey eyes which had given him the impression that the opinion she entertained of him could in a moment be reversed, and that least of all dare he allow her to feel that he was appearing in the character of a lover; and it was for this reason he had scarcely ever talked with her grandfather, and only casually with herself.

The fact was, old Jacob had very well understood that the smart young navy-lieutenant did not come out there for his sake; and as he could not very well shut the door in his face, he had very sensibly warned his granddaughter against him.

He explained to her that people of his class were not in the habit of marrying a common man's child, although it happened far too often that they might play at love with them.