With one long look at Guy, Dexie followed her.  The excitement had sent a pretty color to her cheeks, and her eyes were brilliant with suppressed feeling, but she crossed the room to her father’s side without giving a glance in any direction save on her father’s face.  Apparently she saw nothing of the dark eyes that brightened so vividly at the sight of her.  Hugh was not expecting anyone to follow her, and coming more slowly into the room Guy caught the look on Hugh’s face, and his own heart rose up in a protest against it.  Guy had time for a good look at Dexie’s unwelcome admirer before his presence was discovered, and he wondered how it was that Dexie had not lost her heart long ago to this bold, handsome lover who so openly declared his passion, for the eager, longing gaze that followed Dexie’s movements was easily read.

“Dexie, here is an old friend come to see you,” and her father waved his hand in Hugh’s direction.

Dexie turned herself about, her feelings well under control, and even Guy was surprised at the easy, natural tone in which she replied: 

“How do you do, Mr. McNeil?  You are like a bit of Halifax, and, as such, an old friend.”

As she gave him her hand she turned instantly about, adding,

“Guy, this is Mr. McNeil, a gentleman we used to know in Halifax.  Mr. McNeil, Mr. Traverse.”

Hugh had not noticed Guy’s entrance till Dexie turned to introduce him; consequently he felt slightly embarrassed, but Guy stepped forward with outstretched hand, and greeted him frankly and heartily.

“Any friend of yours, Dexie, is sure to meet a welcome from me.  Glad to know you, Mr. McNeil.”

It was impossible to resist the pleasant, affable manner in which Guy spoke.  There was a magnetism in his winning smile and in the cordial grasp of the hand that attracted Hugh in spite of himself.

As Guy continued speaking, Hugh regarded him intently.  Was this the man who had won Dexie from him?  The looks interchanged when Dexie spoke said as much, and there was an air of ownership in Guy’s manner that sent an arrow through Hugh’s heart.

Dexie followed her father’s eyes and regarded the two men as they talked, and the fear at her heart sank out of sight.  Hugh’s recent voyage from Australia and to New York gave ample opportunity to confine the conversation to questions and descriptions concerning the Island Continent and other places he had visited, and there was an amused smile in Dexie’s eyes as she listened, for she knew Guy was keeping up the conversation in order to gain time and study his rival.

She contrasted the two men who sat reading each other’s faces as they talked.  Hugh had regained all his former strength and vigor by his Australian tour.  He had also grown stouter and his shoulders broader; but the same masterful manner, the same quick glance were present, that made Dexie’s heart beat fast when he turned his gaze upon her.