Olivia was moved by his distress and put her hand gently on his arm.
"Oh, Kit, I'm sorry! But you're not accountable. If it had been possible to save the men you would have brought them off."
Her sympathy thrilled him. He was highly strung, and although he tried for control he was carried away.
"The voyage was disastrous; all went wrong from the start," he said. "You warned me and talked about bad luck, but I went. Perhaps I'm obstinate, but I think you knew why I did go."
Olivia turned her head and thought. She had known why he went, but it was plain the reserve he had used was gone. His control was broken and he would be frank. She liked him, but now he forced her to choose her line, she admitted this was all.
"I think you were rather ridiculous," she said, quietly looking up.
He tried to pull himself together, but could not. He had got a nasty knock.
"It looks like that!" he said in a hoarse voice. "All the same, you knew my ambition and didn't hint I was ridiculous!"
The blood came to Olivia's skin and her eyes sparkled.
To some extent she felt Kit's retort was justified, but she was modern and had pluck.