"Now, I have told you all I know of my interesting protege, you must tell me about your friend whom she resembled so much that she frightened you to-night," she said, blandly.
He started and looked at her, but before he could speak they were interrupted.
Mr. Revington and Irene came out upon the balcony and took seats near them. The girl looked at Mr. Kenmore with a bright, careless smile.
"We have been talking about you, Mr. Kenmore," she said. "We are exceedingly anxious to know how you escaped from the wreck in which you were reported as lost."
She spoke and looked as if he were an utter stranger. He answered with indifference equal to her own:
"I am gratified by your solicitude, Miss Berlin. I can very easily gratify your curiosity. I was rescued by one of the small boats that was lowered from the steamer that sunk us."
"Thank you for your concise explanation," she replied, gaily. "I see you are not disposed to weave any romance around it."
"It was too terribly real to be associated with the thought of romance," he replied, repressing a slight shudder.
"And yet our daily life is often more romantic than fiction," observed Mr. Revington, sentimentally.
No one dissented from the proposition. Mr. Kenmore rose and prepared to take leave.