‘A minute!’ he sung out, and came to us. He seemed to peer into Miss Temple’s face, that showed as a mere faint glimmer in the starlight, the moon being then sunk, and addressing me, exclaimed in a voice but a little above a whisper: ‘I suppose you have told the lady everything, Mr. Dugdale?’
‘Yes,’ I answered; ‘my oath allowed for that, you know.’
‘Certainly,’ said he. ‘It’s a grand opportunity for money-getting, mem. The brace of you know more than the wife of my own bosom has any suspicion of. As God’s my Saviour, never once have I opened my lips to Mrs. Braine about that there money.’
‘I had hoped you would have transferred me to a homeward-bound ship,’ said Miss Temple.
‘You don’t want to be separated from a sweetheart, do you?’ he exclaimed.
This was a stroke to utterly silence her. I believe she had spoken from no other motive than to finesse, that the captain might suppose her as sincere in her belief of his story as I was; but this word sweetheart was like a blast of lightning. What her face would have exhibited if there had been light enough to see it by, I could only imagine.
‘It grows late, captain; good-night,’ said I, pitying her for the confusion and disorder which I knew she would be under.
‘Have you been thinking over the tarms of that letter we were talking about?’ said he.
‘Yes,’ I answered. ‘I’ll pay your cabin a visit after breakfast and write it out.’
‘Very well, sir. That and the agreement about the division of the money too. I shall want to shift my hellum for Rio to-morrow.’