“I knew you would,” she said, and talked nicely to him for reward.
Then the romance which he had resurrected faded; and the sight of so much salt in the waves—the unaccustomed waves—induced a provoking thirst and he rose and after a conventional lie retired to the smoking-room.
“All the same,” Mrs. Harrington remarked to Denby, “I am worried about the boy.”
“He’ll get over it,” said Steven.
“I hope so,” she returned. “His nerves are all wrong. I thought he had the absinthe habit at first, but he’s really quite temperate, and it’s mental, I suspect. It may be Nora; I hope it is. She’s a dear girl and Monty’s really a big catch.”
“Didn’t you say you had bought her a present, some valuable piece of jewelry?”
“Which I have sworn to smuggle,” she returned brightly, “despite your warning.”
“For your sake I wish you wouldn’t,” he said, “but if your mind’s made up, what will my words avail?”
“I’m not stubborn,” she cried, “even Michael admits that. I am always open to conviction.”
“If you smuggle, you are,” he said meaningly. “Really, Mrs. Harrington, you’ve no idea how strict these examinations are becoming, and this vessel seems specially marked out for extra strict inspections. The popular journals have harped on the fact that the rich, influential women who use this and boats of this class, are exempt, while the woman who saves up for a few weeks’ jaunt and brings little inexpensive presents back, is caught.”