"For Heaven's sake, don't try to talk. Your one chance of remaining on
the surface is to keep your lungs well filled. The fault," I said
generously, "was mine. But when you have heard my explanation, I am
sure you will forgive me. There, I told you so."
He reappeared some few feet to the left. I swam up and resumed:
"When you left us so abruptly after our little dinner party, you put
me in a very awkward position. I was desperately in love with your
daughter, and as long as you were in the frame of mind in which you
left, I could not hope to find an opportunity of telling her so. You
see what a fix I was in, don't you? I thought for hours and hours, to
try and find some means of bringing about a reconciliation. You
wouldn't believe how hard I thought. At last, seeing you fishing one
morning when I was on the Cob, it struck me all of a sudden that the
very best way would be to arrange a little boating accident. I was
confident that I could rescue you all right."
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