She mistook his uncertainty for despondency. She assumed that he was brooding over his lost ship. Out of a long silence she spoke:
“I wonder if the world will ever forget and forgive?”
“Forget and forgive who––whom, for what?”
“Germany for all she’s done to this poor world––Belgium, the Lusitania, the Clara?”
He smiled sadly. “The Clara was a little slow tub compared to the Lusitania, but she meant a lot to me.”
“And to me. So did the Lusitania. She nearly cost me my life.”
He was startled. “You didn’t plan to sail on her?”
“No, but––” She paused. She had not meant to open this subject.
But he was aching to hear her version of what Larrey had told.
“How do you mean––she nearly cost you your life?”