It had occurred to Nora that this was the case , but as yet she had never troubled to think the situation over seriously . She liked Clark Bryant well enough , but just at the moment he was in the way . She did not want to take him over to Racicot -- just why she could not have explained . There was in her no snobbish shame of her humble home . But he did not belong there ; he was an alien , and she wished to go back to it for the first time alone . At the boathouse Davy launched the small sailboat and Nora took the tiller . She knew every inch of the harbour . As the sail filled before the wind and the boat sprang across the upcurling waves , her brief sullenness fell away from her . She no longer resented Clark Bryant 's presence -- she forgot it . He was no more to her than the mast by which he stood . The spell of the sea and the wind surged into her heart and filled it with wild happiness and measureless content . Over yonder , where the lights gleamed on the darkening shore under the high-sprung arch of pale golden sky , was home . How the wind whistled to welcome her back ! The lash of it against her face -- the flick of salt spray on her lips -- the swing of the boat as it cut through the racing crests -- how glorious it all was ! Clark Bryant watched her , understanding all at once that he was nothing to her , that he had no part or lot in her heart . He was as one forgotten and left behind . And how lovely , how desirable she was ! He had never seen her look so beautiful . The shawl had slipped down to her shoulders and her head rose out of it like some magnificent flower out of a crimson calyx . The masses of her black hair lifted from her face in the rush of the wind and swayed back again like rich shadows .
Her lips were stung scarlet with the sea 's sharp caresses , and her eyes , large and splendid , looked past him unseeing to the harbour lights XXXXX Racicot .
At against as before from in of than to with