Studdiford might prefer to be left alone.
But the sea air shook Julia into splendid health and energy, and she was
her sweetest self in Honolulu; she and Jim both seemed to recapture here
some of the exquisite tenderness of their honeymoon a year ago. Neither
would admit that there had been any drifting apart, they had never been
less than lovers, yet now they experienced the delights of a
reconciliation. Julia, in her delicate linens and thin embroidered
pongees, with a filmy parasol shading her bright hair, seemed more
wonderful than ever before, and lovely Hawaii was a setting for one of
their happiest times together.
On the boat, coming home, however, there occurred a little incident that
darkened Julia's sky for a long time to come. On the very day of
starting she and Jim, with some other returning San Franciscans, were
standing, a laughing group on the deck, when a dark, handsome young
woman came forward from a nearby cabin doorway, and held out her hand.
"Do you remember me, Julia?" said she, smiling.
Julia, whose white frock was draped with a dozen ropes of brilliant
flowers, and who looked like a little May Queen in her radiant bloom,
looked at the newcomer for a few moments, and then said, with a clearing
face:
"Hannah! Of course I know you.
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