I took it and glanced at the legend the face of it bore, first of all, for figures are just figures, even though they do radiate out from the captain's table.
"Mr. Herbert Montgomery, Bannerley Hall, Bannerley, Lancashire," was the way it read.
"Lancashire?" I asked, looking up so quickly that Hilda mistook my emotion for dismay.
"Yes, we live in Lancashire, but——"
"But we're going on to London first," Mrs. Montgomery assured me.
"We'll see to it that you're put down, safe and sound, at Charing Cross," Mr. Herbert Montgomery finished up.
I looked up again, this time in sheer bewilderment.
"Liverpool's in Lancashire," Hilda explained. "I thought perhaps you were afraid we would desert you as soon as we docked."
I laughed in some embarrassment.
"I'm sure I never before heard that Liverpool had any connection with Lancashire," I explained. "But I was thinking of—something else."