Nell bowed, thankful no doubt that his way of putting it relieved her of the necessity for words.
"You said in Leeuwarden that you didn't know the two young ladies in Dutch costumes," my uncle-in-law flung at me.
"You may have gathered that impression. I certainly never said so," I answered promptly—and truthfully too. "Perhaps I thought, at the time, that the less attention bestowed on the ladies the better they would be pleased," I added.
"You were right," remarked Nell, bravely.
"Oh, very well," said Sir Alec. Then, abruptly, "How's the dog?"
"He's as nice as ever," replied the girl.
Silence for an instant. MacNairne was visibly reflecting. The sight of Miss Van Buren, and her tacit confirmation of my statement, was cooling him down. He is a gentleman, and a good fellow when not in one of his jealous rages; and evidently he did not wish to distress her, or shake her faith in a man she was going to marry.
"I expected to find my wife on board this boat," he said at last abruptly. "Is she here?"
"No," said Nell, "she is not, and never has been."
"It's your boat—not Brederode's?"