The Admiral removed his uneasy eyes from the Saint’s blue stare. His face broke into a mass of uplifting wrinkles.
“Invited?” he said genially. “Why didn’t you say so?”
“You didn’t ask,” the Saint said. “Mrs Verity asked us to join her.”
This name impressed the Admiral. His eyes widened.
“Mrs Verity? Then come aboard!”
“We intended to,” the Saint said. “Ready, Pat?”
“Aye, aye, sir. Boarding party, forward.”
The Admiral fawned on the Saint more than befitted his dignified dress.
“I hope you’ll pardon me, sir, for — Oh!” Somehow, his hand was convenient for the Saint to reach. His white glove closed around what the Saint put there. “Thank you, sir!”
Simon took the girl’s arm and steered her along a short companionway, brass-railed on either side, to a doorway which bore a small brass plate: “Lounge.”