Later, when they went to the living room, she started to slip away, but Isabelle put her arm through the older woman’s and led her along.
“We’ll face this out together,” she whispered.
“We seem to have had the end of this story, Isabelle; suppose we now have the first of it,” said her mother in an amused tone.
The Captain and Isabelle smiled at each other.
“Will you recite it, or shall I?” he asked.
“Together.”
“Chapter One. The good ship ‘Astra.’ The hero forces his acquaintance upon the heroine . . .” he began.
“Didn’t you want to meet him?” inquired Max, curiously.
“Certainly, but I didn’t want him to know it. All the women on board made fools of themselves about him.”