Dear me! how
thoughtless of me! I had forgotten you were standing. Won't you sit
down?'
'No, no; I have been in my room so long that I am glad to stand
anywhere.'
'Then, won't you come up on deck with me?'
'Oh, I'm afraid,' she said. 'I am afraid of a public scene; and I am
sure, by the last look I caught in that girl's eyes, she will stop at no
scandal to have her revenge. I am sorry to say that I am too much of a
coward to meet her. Of course, from her point of view I have done her
eternal wrong. Perhaps it was wrong from anybody's point of view.'
'Miss Longworth,' said John Kenyon cordially, 'you need have no fear
whatever of meeting her. She will say nothing.'
'How do you know that?'
'Oh, it is a long story. She went to the captain with her complaint, and
received very little comfort there. I will tell you all about it on deck.
Get a wrap and come with me.'
As Kenyon gave this peremptory order, he realized that he was taking a
liberty he had no right to take, and his face flushed as he wondered if
Edith would resent the familiarity of his tones; but she merely looked up
at him with a bright smile, and said:
'I will do, sir, as you command.'
'No, no,' said Kenyon; 'it was not a command, although it sounded like
one. It was a very humble request; at least, I intended it to be such.'
'Well, I will get my wrap.'
As she left for her state-room, a rousing cheer was heard from on deck.
She stopped, and looked at Kenyon.
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