“There isn’t any Mrs. Pruyn. There never was.”
“But the Dutch permit! It was for Dr. Pruyn and his wife.”
“Sherwen misread the form. So did I. It read for Dr. Pruyn and a woman. He hoped to take her to Curaçao and complete his experiment.”
“That’s what he meant when he spoke of being lawless, and I’ve been thinking the basest things of him for it!” The girl, dazed by a flash of complete enlightenment, caught at Carroll’s arm with beseeching hands. “Where is he, Fitz?”
“On his way down the mountain. Perhaps down here by now.”
“He’s coming to the ship?” she asked.
“No; he doesn’t expect to see you again. He was coming down to make sure that we got off safely.”
“Fitz, dear Fitz, I must see him!”
“Miss Polly,” he said miserably, “I’ll do anything I can.”
“Oh, poor Fitz!” she cried pityingly, her eyes filling with tears. “I wish for your sake it wasn’t so. And you have been so splendid about it!”