The Queen''s Cup

  Chapter 6.

  "And so you have bought a yacht, Major Mallett?"

  "Yes; at least she is scarcely a yacht yet. I was going to have onebuilt, but I heard of one that had been ordered by Lord Haverstock,who, they say, has been so hard hit at the Derby that he had totell Wanhill, the builder, that he could not take her. As theseason was getting rather late, the man was glad to sell her abargain, especially as he had already got a thousand pounds towardsher; so I got her for twelve hundred less that Haverstock was tohave paid. It suited me admirably, for he has engaged to finish herin six weeks. She is just about the size I wanted, 120 tons, andlooks as if she would turn out fast, and a good sea boat. Ofcourse, I shall race a bit with her next year, though I have boughther more for cruising.

  "I hope that you and Lady Greendale will favour me with yourcompany, on her first cruise after the season ends. I know it is ofno use asking before that."

  "I should like it immensely, Major Mallett. It would be delightful.How many can you carry?"

  "Eight comfortably. The ladies' cabin has four berths, but will beonly really comfortable for three; and there are four other statecabins--that is, three besides my own, but one of them has twoberths. Of course, I could put up three or four others in thesaloon for a couple of days, but for a cruise of three weeks or amonth it would be too many for comfort. We could not seat thatnumber at table without crowding, and I doubt whether the cookingarrangements would be altogether satisfactory.

  "Of course, we shall want two more ladies. I will leave theselection of those to you and Lady Greendale, for, exceptyourselves, I know no ladies; though, of course, I could get plentyof men."

  "That will be delightful," Bertha said; "but I dare say that by thetime the season is over you will know plenty of ladies that you canask. You see, you have met so many people here now that, as youhave just been grumbling discontentedly, you are out nearly everynight."

  "Yes," he laughed. "At present, you see, I am regarded rather as anIndian lion; but I shall bid goodbye to London as soon as the yachtis afloat."

  "What is her name to be?"

  "I have not given it a thought, yet. I only bought her two daysago. It seems to me that it is almost as hard to fix on a name fora yacht as for a race horse."

  "Oh! there are so many pretty names that would do for a yacht."

  "Yes; but you would be surprised if you knew how many yachts thereare of every likely name."

  "It ought to be a water bird," the girl said.

  "Those are just the names that are most taken."

  "Yes; but there are lots of sea birds and water birds, only Icannot think of them."

  "Well, you look them out," he laughed. "Here is a Hunt's YachtingList that I bought on my way here. I will leave it with you, andany name that you fix on she shall have. Only, please choose onethat only two or three boats, and those not about the same size,have got. It leads to confusion if there are two craft going aboutof the same name and of about the same size. But I warn you, thatit will involve your having to go down to Poole to christen her."

  "Do they christen yachts, Major Mallett?"

  "I really don't know anything about it," he replied; "but if it isright and proper for ships it must be for yachts; and I shouldregard the ceremony as being likely to bring good luck to her. Whenthe time comes, I will fix the day to suit your arrangements."

  "I will try to come down, Major Mallett, if mamma will agree; butit is a long way to Poole, and somehow one never seems to find anhour to do anything; so I really cannot promise."

  "Well, if you cannot manage it, Miss Greendale, I will have herlaunched without being named and bring her round to Southampton,and then you could go down and christen her there. That would onlybe a short railway run of a couple of hours after breakfast, and,say, two hours for luncheon there, and to have a look at her, andyou could be home by four o'clock in the afternoon."

  "That seems more practicable."

  Captain Mallett had been three weeks in town. He had called uponLady Greendale on the day after he had come up, and been receivedwith the greatest cordiality by her and Bertha. The latter, in thetwo years and a half that he had been away, had grown from asomewhat gawky girl, whose charm lay solely in her expressive eyesand pleasant smile, into a very pretty woman. She was slightly overmiddle height, and carried herself exceptionally well. Her face wasa bright and sunny one, but her eyes were unchanged, and there wasan earnestness in their expression which, with a certain resolutecurve in the lips, gave character to the laughing brightness of herface. Society had received her warmly, and consequently she waspleased with society. Both for her own sake and as an heiress shewas made a deal of, and, though she had been but two months intown, she had already taken her place as one of the recognisedbelles of the season.

  Lady Greendale had a dinner party on the day when Major Mallettcalled, and was discussing with Bertha whom they could invite tofill up at such short notice a vacancy which had occurred.

  "You come at the right moment, Frank," she said, after they hadchatted for some time. "We were lamenting just now that we hadreceived this morning a note from a gentleman who was coming todine with us today, saying that he could not come; but now I regardit as most fortunate, for of course we want you to come to us atonce. I suppose you have not made any engagements yet. We shall besixteen with you, and I think they are all nice people."

  "I shall be very happy to come," he said. "I have certainly noengagements. I looked in at the club last night. It was my firstappearance there, for my name only came up for election four monthsago, and I should have felt very uncomfortable if I had nothappened to meet two or three old friends. One of them asked me todinner for tomorrow. For today I am altogether free."

  In the course of the evening Major Mallett received three or fourinvitations to dances and balls, and, being thus started insociety, was soon out every evening. For the first week he enjoyedthe novelty of the scene, but very speedily tired of it. At dinnersthe ladies he took down always wanted him to talk about India; buteven this was, in his opinion, preferable to the crush and heat ofthe dances.

  "How men can go on with such a life as this," he said to a friendat the club, "beats me altogether, Colonel. Two or three times inthe year one might like to go out to these crowded balls, just tosee the dresses and the girls, but to go out night after night isto my mind worse than hunting the rebels through the jungle. It isjust as hot and not a hundredth part so exciting. I have only hadthree weeks of it, and I am positively sick of it already."

  "Then why on earth do you accept, Mallett? I took good care not toget into it. What can a man want better than this? A well-cookeddinner, eaten with a chum, and then a quiet rubber; and perhapsonce a fortnight or so I go out to a dinner party, which I likewell enough as a change. I always get plenty of shooting in winter,and am generally away for three months, but I am always heartilyglad to get back again."

  "I am afraid I should get as tired of the club as I am of society,Colonel."

  "You have plenty of time, lad. I am twenty years your senior. Well,there is plenty before you besides society and club life. Ofcourse, you will marry and settle down, and become a countymagistrate and all that sort of thing. Thank goodness, what moneycame to me came in the shape of consols, and not in that of land. Acountry life would be exile to me; but, you see, you have left thearmy much younger than I did. I suppose you are not thirty yet? TheCrimea and India ran you fast up the tree."

  "No, I am only twenty-eight. You know I was only a brevet Major,and had two more steps to get before I had a regimental majority."

  "That makes all the difference, Mallett; and it is absurd, a youngfellow of your age crying out against society."

  "I don't cry out against it," Mallett laughed. "I simply say thatit is out of my line, and I have never been broken into it. I wastalking of buying a yacht, or rather of building one."

  "What size do you want? I know of one to be had cheap, if you arethinking of a good big craft."

  And thus it was that Malle
tt came to hear of the yawl at Poole.

  "I have fixed on the Osprey, Major Mallett," Bertha Greendale said,when he took her down to dinner two days after he had last seenher. "What do you say to that? There are two or three yachts of thesame name, but none of them is over thirty tons."

  "I think the Osprey is a pretty name, Miss Greendale. I should haveaccepted the Crocodile if you had suggested it. The name that youhave chosen will suit admirably; so henceforth she shall be theOsprey, pending your formally christening her by that name. Imight, of course, be hypercritical and point out that, although afishing eagle, the Osprey can scarcely be called a water bird,inasmuch that it is no swimmer."

  "But it is hypercritical even to suggest such a thing," she said,pouting. "The Osprey has to do with the sea. It is strong and swifton the wing, and the sails of the yacht are wings, are they not?Then it is strong and bold, and I am sure your boat will not beafraid to meet a storm. Altogether, I think it is an excellentname."

  "I think it a very good name, too."

  "You ought to have one for your figurehead."

  "Yachts don't have figureheads, else I would certainly have it. Atany rate, I will choose an eagle for my racing flag."

  "I have never been on board a yacht yet," the girl said. "I think Ionly know one man who has one, at least a large one; that is Mr.Carthew. Of course you know him; he had a new one this spring--thePhantom. He has won several times this season."

  "I saw he had," Frank said, quietly. "Yes, I used to know him, butit's seven or eight years since we met."

  "And you don't like him," she said, quickly.

  "What makes you think that, Miss Greendale?"

  "Oh, I can tell by the tone of your voice."

  "I don't think it expressed anything but indifference, as it issuch a long time since I met him. But I never fancied him much. Isuppose we were not the same sort of men; and then, too, perhaps Iam rather prejudiced from the fact that I know that he wasconsidered rather a hard landlord."

  "I never heard that," she said.

  "No, I dare say you would not hear it, but I fancy it was so.However, he sold his estate, at least so I heard."

  "Yes, he told me that he did not care for country life. I have seenhim several times since we came up to town. He keeps race horses,you know. His horse was second in the Derby this spring. That takeshim a good deal away, else one would meet him more often, for heknows a great many people we do."

  "Yes, I know that he races, and is, I believe, rather lucky on theturf."

  "You have no inclination that way, Major Mallett?"

  "Not a shadow," he said, earnestly. "It is the very last vice Ishould take to. I have seen many cases, in the service, of youngfellows being ruined by betting on the turf. We had one case in myown regiment, in which a man was saved by the skin of his teeth.Happily he had strength of mind and manliness enough to cut italtogether, and is a very promising young officer now, but it wasonly the fact of our embarking when we did for India that saved himfrom ruin.

  "The man who bets more than he can afford to lose is simply agambler, whether he does so on racehorses or on cards. I have seenenough of it to hate gambling with all my heart. It has driven moremen out of the service than drink has, and the one passion isalmost as incurable as the other."

  Bertha laughed. "I think that is the first time I have ever heardyou express any very strong opinion, Major Mallett. It is quiterefreshing to listen to a thorough-going denunciation of anythinghere in London. In the country, of course, it is different. Allsorts of things are heartily abused there; especially, perhaps, theweather, free trade, poaching, and people in whose covers foxes arescarce. But here, in London, no one seems to care much aboutanything."

  "People in your set have no time to do so."

  "That is very unkind. They think about amusement."

  "They may think about it, but it is all in a very languid fashion.Now, in a country town, when there is a ball or a dance in theneighbourhood, it is quite an excitement; and, at any rate,everyone enters into it heartily. People evidently enjoy thedancing for dancing's sake, and they all look as if they werethoroughly enjoying themselves. Whereas here, people dance as if itwas rather a painful duty than otherwise, and there is a generalexpression of a longing for the whole thing to be over."

  "I enjoy the dancing," Bertha said, sturdily. "At least, when I geta really good partner."

  "Yes, but then you have only been three months at it. You have notgot broken into the business yet."

  "Nor have you, Major Mallett."

  "No, but while you are an actor in the piece, I am but a spectator,and lookers-on, you know, see most of the game."

  "What nonsense! Don't pretend you are getting to be a blase man. Iknow that you are only about ten years older than I am--not morethan nine, I think--and you dance very well, and no doubt you knowit."

  "I like dancing, I can assure you, where there is room to dance;but I don't call it dancing when you have an area of only a footsquare to dance in, and are hustled and bumped more than you wouldbe in a crowded Lord Mayor's show. My training has not suited mefor it, and I would rather stand and look on, listen to scraps ofconversation, watch the faces of the dancers and of those standinground. It is a study, and I think it shows one of the worst sidesof nature. It is quite shocking to see and hear the envy,uncharitableness, the boredom, and the desperate efforts to lookcheerful under difficulties, especially among the girls that do notget partners."

  "For shame! I am disappointed in you," Bertha said, half in jest,half in earnest. "You are not at all the person I thought you were.Whatever I may have fancied about you, I never imagined you a cynicor a grumbler."

  "I suppose it brings out the worst side of my nature, too," he laughed."When you come down on board the Osprey, Miss Greendale, you will seethe other side. I fancy one falls into the tone of one's surroundings.Here I have caught the tone of the bored man of society, there youwill see that I shall be a breezy sailor--cheerful in storm or in calm,ready to take my glass and to toast my lass and all the rest of it intrue nautical fashion."

  "I hope so," she said, gravely. "I shall certainly need somethingof the sort to correct the very unfavourable impression you havejust been giving me. Now let us change the subject. You have nottold me yet whether you had any flirtations in India."

  "Flirtations!" he repeated. "For once, the small section ofwomankind that I encountered were above and beyond flirtations.

  "I don't think," he went on seriously, "that you in England canquite realise what it was, or that a woman in London society canimagine that there can exist a state of things in which dress andappearance are matters which have altogether ceased to engross thefemale mind. The white women I saw there were worn and haggard. Nomatter what their age, they bore on their faces the impress ofterrible hardship, terrible danger, and terrible grief and anxiety.Few but had lost someone dear to them, many all whom they caredfor. A few had made some pitiful attempt at neatness, but most hadlost all thought of self, all care whatever for personalappearance. There was an anxious look in their eyes that waspainful to witness."

  "I spoke without thinking," the girl said, gravely. "It must havebeen awful--awful, as you say. It is impossible for us really toimagine quite what it was, or to picture up such scenes as you musthave witnessed. I can understand that all this must seem frivolousand contemptible to you."

  "No, I don't go so far as that," he smiled. "It is good that thereshould be butterflies as well as bees; and, at any rate, the womenof India, who had the reputation of being as frivolous andpleasure-loving as the rest of their sex, came out nobly and showeda degree of patience under suffering and of heroic courageunsurpassable in history.

  "I am afraid," he said, as the hostess gave the signal for theladies to rise, "you will long look back upon this dinner as one ofunprecedented dullness."

  "Not dullness," she smiled. "Exceptional certainly, but assomething so different from the usual thing, when one talks ofnothing but the opera, the theatres and exhibitions, as to d
eserveto be put down in one's diary by a mark. I won't flatter you bytelling you whether a red or a black one."

  "Who are the party going to be, Mallett?" his friend Colonel Severnsaid, as they stood together on the deck of the Osprey early inAugust. "You guaranteed that it would be a pleasant one when youpersuaded me to leave London, for the first time since I retired,before shooting began."

  "Well, to begin with, there is Lady Greendale, an eminentlypleasant woman. She comes as general chaperon, and I shall considerher under your especial care. You will not find it hard work, forshe is an eminently sympathetic woman, ready to chat if you aredisposed to talk, to interest herself in other ways if you are not.She has plenty of common sense, is tolerant of tobacco, and athorough woman of the world, though her headquarters have for yearsbeen in the country. With her is her daughter."

  "Well, what about her? I have heard of her as having made quite asensation this season, and between ourselves I had some idea thatthis party was specially planned on her account."

  "To some extent perhaps it was," Frank Mallett laughed. "BerthaGreendale is an old chum of mine. I knew her in very short frocks,for they were near neighbours of ours in the country; and herfather, Sir John, was always one of my kindest friends. She was aslip of a girl when I went out to India, and though I thought thatshe would turn out pretty, I certainly did not expect she would beanything like as good looking as she is. She was always a nicegirl, and success so far has not spoiled her.

  "Then there is a Miss Sinclair, a great friend of Bertha's; andJack Hawley of the Guards. I knew him out in the Crimea. The othertwo are Wilson, who is a clever young barrister, and a particularlypleasant fellow; and his wife, who is a sister of Miss Sinclair; soI think there are the elements of a pleasant party. All the ladiesare broken into smoke, for Sir John smoked, and so does Wilson; sothat you won't be expected to go forward, as they do on the P andO, whenever you want to enjoy your favourite pipe."

  "That is a comfort, anyhow, Mallett. If there is one thing in theworld I hate, it is having to go and hunt about for some place tosmoke in; and I never accept an invitation to any shooting partyunless I know beforehand that smoking is allowed. At what time doyou expect the others?"

  "They will be down at half-past twelve; they are all coming by thesame train, and it was because I knew that you would want to be ina smoking carriage that I told you to come down by the earlier one.And, besides, I thought it well to get you here first. You are theonly stranger, as it were. The others are all intimate with eachother, and it was as well to post you as to their variousrelationships."

  "One thing, Mallett. I hope Lady Greendale is not in any way amarrying woman. I am not like Mr. Pickwick, afraid of widows, andhave perfect confidence in my power to resist temptation; but atthe same time it makes all the difference in the world to one'scomfort. I am not ass enough to suppose that Lady Greendale wouldeven dream for a moment of setting her cap at a Colonel on halfpay, but if a woman is in the marrying line she always expects acertain amount of what you may call delicate attention. It is herdaily bread, for she considers that unless every man she comesacross evinces a certain amount of admiration, it is a sign thather charms are on the wane, and her chances growing more and moreremote."

  Mallett laughed. "You can set your mind at ease, for nothing isfurther from the thoughts of Lady Greendale than re-marriage. Shewas very happy with her husband."

  "The more reason for her marrying again," the Colonel said. "Awoman who has been happy with her husband is apt to get the ideainto her head that every man will make a good husband; and aconfoundedly mistaken idea it is. She is much more likely to marryagain than the woman who has had a hard time of it."

  "Well, you may be right there, Colonel, but putting aside myconviction that Lady Greendale has no idea of marrying again, isthe fact that at present all her thoughts are occupied by herdaughter. She is not at all what you would call a managing mother,but I am sure that she has set her heart on Bertha's making a goodmatch, and that the fear that she will succumb to some pennilessyounger son or other unsuitable partner is at present the dominantfeeling in her mind. I don't think she would have agreed to JackHawley being of the party, had not Bertha entertained a convictionthat he was rather gone on Miss Sinclair, who by the way has, likeher sister, money enough to disregard the fact that Jack is hardlyin that respect well endowed.

  "However, it is time for me to be off; I see the skipper is gettingthe gig lowered. I suppose you will be content to sit here andsmoke your pipe until we come back; and, indeed, seven is as manyas the gig will carry with any degree of comfort. The cutter willgo ashore to fetch off the luggage, which will probably be ofsomewhat portentous dimensions."

  Two minutes later Mallett took his place in the gig, and was rowedto the shore. He was delighted, with his new purchase. She was anexcellent sea boat, and, as he had learned from a short spin withanother craft, decidedly fast. He had not, however, entered her forany race.

  "There is no hurry," he said to his skipper, when the lattersuggested that they should try her at Cowes. "I should like to winmy first race, and in the first place we don't know that she is inher best trim. In the next place we must get the crew accustomed toeach other and to the craft. I bought her as a cruiser rather thana racer, and don't want to have her full of men, as are most of theracers. It is a heavy expense, and fewer hands accustomed to workwell together do just as much work, and more smartly than a crowd.We found, when we sailed round the islands with the Royal Victoriarace, that, considering we went under reduced canvas, we held ourown very fairly; and I have no doubt that when we get all our lightcanvas up, the Osprey will give a good account of herself. Our gearis scarcely stretched yet.

  "No; I will wait until next season, and then we will make a boldbid for a Queen's Cup."

  Frank Mallett reached the platform at Southampton a few minutesbefore the train came in. The party were on the lookout for him,and alighted in the highest spirits.

  "Now, ladies," he said, "the first thing is to point out theluggage. My man here will get it all together, and stand guard overit till two others arrive to get it on board. They will be here ina few minutes. In fact, they ought to be here now."

  He looked on with something like dismay while the boxes were pickedout and piled together.

  "My dear Lady Greendale," he said, "I am afraid you must all havevery vague ideas as to the amount of accommodation in a 120-tonyacht. She is not a Cunarder or a P and O. Why, two or three ofthose trunks would absolutely fill one of her cabins."

  "You did not expect, Major Mallett," Bertha said demurely, "that wewere coming for a month's cruise with only handbags; especiallyafter telling us that very likely we might not get a chance ofgetting any washing done all that time."

  "Well, I dare say we shall stow them away somewhere. Now, as youhave got them all together, we will go down to the boat.

  "Now, lads, you had better get a hand cart, and get these things onboard as soon as you can."

  "Which is the Osprey?" Amy Sinclair asked Bertha, as they tooktheir places in the boat.

  Bertha looked with a rather puzzled face at the fleet of yachts.

  "That is," she said, confidently, after a moment's hesitation,pointing to one towards which the boat was at the moment heading.

  Frank Mallett laughed.

  "Really I should have thought, Miss Greendale, that, althoughmaking every allowance for feminine vagueness as to boats, youwould have known the yacht you christened a month ago; or, at anyrate, would not have mistaken a schooner for a yawl, after thepatient explanation I gave you on your last visit as to thedifferent rigs. That is the Osprey, a hundred yards lower down."

  "Oh, yes, I remember now, that when there is a little mast standingon the stern it is a yawl. These things seem very simple to you,Major Mallett, but they are very puzzling to women, who knownothing about them. Now, I venture to say, that if I were to showyou six different materials for frocks, and were to tell you alltheir names, you would know nothing about them when I showed themt
o you a month afterwards.

  "I suppose the gentleman on board is Colonel Severn."

  "Yes, he came down by the train before yours. I thought it betterthat he should do so, as in the first place, he did not know any ofyou, and in the next, as you see, we are pretty closely packed asit is."

  "What is that flag at the masthead?" Lady Greendale asked. "Berthasaid that your flag was going to have an eagle on it."

  "That is on my racing flag. Let me impress upon you, ladies, that aracing flag is a square flag, and that that is not a flag at all,but a burgee. Every club has its burgee; as you see, that is awhite cross on a blue ground with a crown in the centre, and is theburgee of the Royal Thames, of which I was elected a member lastmonth.

  "Here we are. Properly, I ought to be on board first, but I am toowedged in. You and Wilson had better go up first; that will givemore room for the ladies to move."

  "You have got new steps," Bertha said. "When I came down with Mrs.Wilson to christen the boat we had to climb up nasty steep stepsagainst the side. This is a great deal more comfortable. I wasthinking that mamma would have a difficulty in getting up thoseother things, if it were at all rough."

  "Yes, I have had them specially made for the present occasion.Large cruisers always have them, and, at any rate, they are morecomfortable for any-sized boats. But they take up rather more roomto stow away, and they are really not so handy in a sea, for theboats cannot get so close alongside. Still, no doubt they are morecomfortable for ladies. Now it is your turn."

  The cruise of the Osprey was in all respects a success. The partywas well chosen and pleasant. Colonel Severn and Lady Greendale goton well together. He liked her because she had no objectionwhatever to his perpetual enjoyment of his pipe. She liked himbecause he was altogether different from anyone that she had metbefore; his Indian stories amused her, his views of life wereoriginal, and his grumbling at modern ways and modern innovationsin no way concealed the fact that in spite of it all he evidentlyenjoyed life thoroughly.

  The Osprey had fine weather as she ran along the south coast,anchoring under Portland for a day, while the party examined theworks of the breakwater and paid a visit to the quarries, where theconvicts were at work. She put into Torquay, Dartmouth andPlymouth, spending a day in the two former ports and two at thelast named. They looked into Fowey, and stopped two days atFalmouth, and then, rounding the Land's End, made for Kingstown.From here they started for the Clyde; but meeting with very heavyweather, went into Belfast Lough.

  The Osprey proved to be a fine sea boat, and behaved so well thateven Lady Greendale declared she would not be afraid to trustherself on board her in any weather. They sailed up the Clyde asfar as Greenock, and then returning, cruised for a fortnight amongthe islands on the west coast. They had enjoyed their stay atKingstown so much that they put in there again on their returnvoyage, shaped their course for Plymouth, and then, without lookinginto any other port, returned to Southampton.

  Jack Hawley and Miss Sinclair had become engaged during the voyage,and the Colonel and Lady Greendale had become so confidential thatFrank laughingly asked him if he had changed his views on thesubject of matrimony, a suggestion which he indignantly repudiated.

  "I should have thought that you knew me better," he said,reproachfully. "I admit that Lady Greendale is a very charmingwoman, but you don't think that she can imagine for a moment that Ihave ever entertained any idea of such a thing? You said that I wasto amuse her if I could. I have tried my best to keep the old ladyas much to myself as possible, so as to enable all you young peopleto carry out your flirtations to your heart's content. By gad, sir,it would be a nice return for following out your instructions tofind myself in such a hole as that."

  Frank had some difficulty in persuading the Colonel that his remarkwas not meant as a serious one, and that there was no fear whateverthat Lady Greendale had ever had the slightest reason to supposethat his intentions were not of a most Platonic nature.

  "I am heartily glad," the Colonel said, when he was quite pacified,"that Hawley's affair has come off all right. Even if she had notbeen an heiress I should have said that he was a lucky fellow, forshe is an extremely nice and pleasant young woman, without anynonsense about her; still there is no doubt that her fortune willcome in very handy for Hawley. As to the girl herself, I think shehas made a very good choice. She has plenty of money for both, andas he has managed to keep up on his younger son's portion, he canhave no extravagant tastes, and will make her a very good husband.There is no other engagement to be announced, I suppose?"

  "As I am the only other unmarried man on board, Colonel, yourquestion is somewhat pointed. No; I hope there may be one of thesedays, but I don't think that it would be fair to ask her here,where I am her host, and she is under the glamour of the sea. Idoubt whether she has the slightest idea of what I want. That isthe worst of being very old friends; the relations get so fixedthat a woman does not recognise that they can ever be changed.However, I shall try my luck one of these days. I don't think thatI shall meet with any serious opposition on her mother's part, ifBertha likes me, but I know that Lady Greendale has very much moreambitious views for her, and has quite set her mind upon her makinga good match. No doubt she has a right to expect that she will doso. However, I think she is too fond of Bertha to thwart her,however disappointed she might feel. At present I don't think thatshe has any more suspicion than Bertha herself of my intentions."

  During the voyage Bertha and Amy Sinclair had become quite adroithelmswomen, and one or other was constantly at the tiller when thewind was light. Bertha had learned the names of all the crew, andoften went forward to ask questions of the men tending the headsails, becoming a prime favourite with all hands. On arriving atSouthampton the rest of the party went up at once to town, whileFrank remained behind for a day or two, going round in the yacht toGosport, where she was to be laid up for the winter.