If the conditions were reversed, I suppose the getting-up
time of the two men would be changed accordingly.'
'Not at all, George--not at all. I would rise early whether anybody else
on board did or not. In fact, when I got on deck this morning, I expected
to have it to myself.'
'I take it, though, that you were not grievously disappointed when you
found you hadn't a monopoly?'
'Well, to tell the truth, I was not; Miss Longworth is a charmingly
sensible girl.'
'Oh, they all are,' said Wentworth lightly. 'You had no sympathy for
me the other day. Now you know how it is yourself, as they say across
the water.'
'I don't know how it is myself. The fact is, we were talking business.'
'Really? Did you get so far?'
'Yes, we got so far, if that is any distance. I told her about the
mica-mine.'
'Oh, you did! What did she say? Will she invest?'
'Well, when I told her we expected to form a company for fifty thousand
pounds, she said it was such a small sum, she doubted if we could get
anybody interested in it in London.'
Wentworth, who was now well advanced with his dressing, gave a long
whistle.
'Fifty thousand pounds a small sum? Why, John, she must be very wealthy!
Probably more so than the American millionairess.'
'Well, George, you see, the difference between the two young ladies is
this: that while American heiresses are apt to boast of their immense
wealth, English women say nothing about it.'
'If you mean Miss Brewster when you speak in that way, you are entirely
mistaken.
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