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 "By the French boat. The Mignonette which sails on Saturday." He answered with confidence for he had spent a quarter of an hour looking it up before he had dressed; and had already posted a letter to the Office asking to have the best cabin open kept for him.

"What a pity," said Joy. "We are going on the Graphic on the Wednesday after; you might have come with us." She coloured up as she became conscious of the dead silence—lasting for a few seconds—of the rest of the party.

"H'm!" said the Colonel.

"Perhaps dear, Mr. Hardy has reasons of his own for choosing his own route," said Mrs. Ogilvie, determined that her daughter should not appear to be too ardent in pressing the new acquaintanceship.

Athlyne hastened to set matters right, as well as he could. He knew from his own bringing up that such a request should come rather from the parents than from the girl herself; but he understood and tried to protect her. He addressed himself therefore to Mrs. Ogilvie and not her daughter as he spoke:

"It would I assure you, be a delight to me to go on your ship. But unhappily it would not be possible. Some business matters, not altogether my own, are dependent on my arriving in England. If I had only known that you were going—Indeed I may say," he added with a smile which all three women accepted as "winning" "that if I had known, to begin with, that such delightful people existed… But until that … that accident I had no such knowledge. I must not say that 'happy' accident for it was fraught with such danger to one whom you hold dear. But, that apart, it was a happy accident to me that has given me the opportunity of making friends whom I already value so highly!" This was for him quite a long speech; he breathed more freely when it was over.

When the ladies had gone, he and his host had a long chat over their cigars. He was now more at ease, and as