`` Was n't there some talk about Mrs. Longworth and Cunningham last winter ? '' asked the other . `` Yes . They were much together . Still , there may have been nothing wrong . She was old Judge Carmody 's daughter , you know . Longworth got Carmody under his thumb in money matters and put the screws on . They say he made Carmody 's daughter the price of the old man 's redemption . The girl herself was a mere child , I shall never forget her face on her wedding day . But she 's been plucky since then , I must say . If she has suffered , she has n't shown it . I do n't suppose Longworth ever ill-treats her . He is n't that sort . He 's simply a grovelling cad -- that 's all . Nobody would sympathise much with the poor devil if his wife did run off with Cunningham . '' Meanwhile , Beatrice Longworth walked quickly down the shore road , her white skirt brushing over the crisp golden grasses by the way . In a sunny hollow among the sandhills she came upon Stephen Gordon , sprawled out luxuriously in the warm , sea-smelling grasses . The youth sprang to his feet at sight of her , and his big brown eyes kindled to a glow . Mrs. Longworth smiled to him . They had been great friends all summer .
He was a lanky , overgrown lad XXXXX fifteen or sixteen , odd and shy and dreamy , scarcely possessing a speaking acquaintance with others at the hotel .
In about if of on over since that upon with