“I have just received this from Captain Brabant, madam,” he said with studied, but cold politeness, as he handed her a letter.
She took it with an impatient gesture. “A letter to you and none to me! Surely he must have written, and the letter has miscarried.”
“No doubt, madam,” replied the captain of the Maritana in the same stiff tones.
Mrs. Brabant motioned him to a seat as she read the letter, first telling Minea, the Samoan maid, who was present, to leave the room. The girl obeyed, and as she passed Lester she gave him such a curious but friendly glance, that now for the first time he began to have a suspicion that she was not false to her master. Then, too, it suddenly flashed across his mind that according to Samoan custom, unknown to her mistress, Minea was a “sister” to Brabant, who had exchanged names with her father, a minor chief of a good family, on whose land Brabant had settled when he first came to Samoa. That alone, he knew, would ensure the girl's unswerving loyalty and devotion to her “brother”—she could not conceal from him anything that affected his honour or reputation.
“She'll tell him,” he thought, as he watched Mrs. Brabant read the letter; “thank God I shall be spared the task.”
Brabant's letter to Lester was very short. It was dated from Vavau, Friendly Islands, and was as follows:—
“Dear Lester,—I send you this hurried note by the Tongan
Government schooner Taufaahau. I am here in the Loelia,
inspecting my stations in connection with their transference
to Captain Danvers's company. He is very anxious to realise
his ideal, and I do not wish to keep him waiting. If Mrs.
Brabant is not in Sydney when this reaches you, please
communicate with her as quickly as possible. No doubt she
will be quite anxious to return to Fiji now, and I shall be
here awaiting the Maritana. I hope to see you within three
weeks after you receive this. Make the Maritana sail for
all she is worth.
“Yours sincerely,
“John Brabant.”
She handed him the letter. “Thank you, Captain Lester. When do you propose sailing?”
“I am ready for sea now, madam. I only await your pleasure.”
He did not look at her as he spoke, for he feared that the hatred and contempt with which he regarded her would show itself in his face.