"May I light up my pipe?" he said. "I will get to leeward."
"I shall not mind in the least," she assented.
"By the way," he asked, "does Mr. Carling smoke?"
"He used to," she replied, "and while we were with the Nollises he smoked every day, but after we left them he fell back into the notion that it was bad for him."
John filled and lighted his pipe in silence, and after a satisfactory puff or two said: "Will Mr. Carling go in to dinner to-night?"
"Yes," she replied, "I think he will if it is no rougher than at present."
"It will probably be smoother," said John. "You must introduce me to him—"
"Oh," she interrupted, "of course, but it will hardly be necessary, as Alice and I have spoken so often to him of you—"
"I was going to say," John resumed, "that he may possibly let me take him off your hands a little, and after dinner will be the best time. I think if I can get him into the smoking room that a cigar and—and—something hot with a bit of lemon peel and so forth later on may induce him to visit with me for a while, and pass the evening, or part of it."
"You want to be an angel!" she exclaimed. "Oh, I—we—shall be so obliged. I know it's just what he wants—some man to take him in hand."