The occupants of the dinghy were signalling their intention to rescue, and Mr. Gilman used his back nobly.
“But we cannot embark here!” Madame Piriac complained.
“Oh, yes!” said Audrey. “You see those white stones? ... It’s quite easy.”
When the dinghy had done about half the journey Madame Piriac murmured:
“By the way, who are you, precisely, for the present? It would be prudent to decide, darling.”
Audrey hesitated an instant.
“Who am I? ... Oh! I see. Well, I’d better keep on being Mrs. Moncreiff for a bit, hadn’t I?”
“It is as you please, darling.”
The fact was that Audrey recoiled from a general confession, though admitting it to be ultimately inevitable. Moreover, she had a slight fear that each of her friends in turn might make a confession ridiculous by saying: “We knew all along, of course.”
The dinghy was close in.