Page:Barbour--Peggy in the rain.djvu/212

 There was a short silence. The steward brought the rickeys. Gordon finished his cigarette and tossed it overboard. Then,

"I suppose you know he was a little bit jealous of you?" she asked.

"Yes, he intimated as much—without meaning to. He also informed me half an hour ago that it was all a mistake; that you had reassured him by saying that if I were the last man on earth you wouldn't marry me." Gordon smiled across at her. She nodded calmly. "Yes, we have to lie sometimes. As a matter of fact, Gordon, you and I both know that I'd have jumped at you any day in the week."

"And been supremely miserable ever afterwards," he said gayly.

"Yes, I'd have had to risk that. Still—" She pondered a moment, studying him. "Why didn't you want me, Gordon?"

"Aren't you putting the screws on a bit hard, Leona?" he asked with a grimace.

"Oh, that—Don't answer if you don't care to. It's perfectly safe now, I assure you. Besides, I—recovered some time ago."

"I don't think that was difficult to see," he