"Flirted! Prince Ch——" His laugh broke out again; into a roar this time. "Why, he was the most taciturn beggar on the boat, to everyone but me! Flirt! That's good. Beyond a 'Good morning,' I never heard him address a woman. If one at table asked him for the water-bottle, he acted as if she had done him a deadly wrong in speaking to him! He was not even on pass-the-salt-and-pepper terms with a lady on board. Flirt! This is really too rich!"
The laughter rang out again. His anger was all gone; his face was all sunshine. There was a comedy side to the affair, after all! That was the side of things Dick was sure to reach sooner or later; his nature tended that way. It served to detect the merest trace of humour in things.
"Dick!"
A misgiving was seizing her. She was putting two and two together and making a decidedly unpleasant four of it; said:
"Isn't it true that he made violent love to Amy directly she came on board?"
"To Amy! To Amy! If there was one woman he avoided—positively avoided—more than another, it was Amy. He seemed to take a dislike to her directly she was introduced; and in justice to her, I am bound to say that she reciprocated. From her point of view, I suppose that was showing proper feeling. She was for ever trying to poison my mind against him. But I knew him, and I knew her. She preached to the winds!"
Dick had to pause. Having got hold of the offending root, his indignation was rising, getting the better of him.
"Make love to her!" he repeated. "Good Heavens! Beyond 'Good morning' and 'Good night' I don't suppose he spoke a hundred words to her on the whole voyage home."
"Then—I—I—have been made a fool——"
"Rather an easy task, I should imagine," interjected Dick, with truly brotherly contempt. "But who is responsible for the job? Whoever it was, couldn't have been killed with the hard work!"