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  “I think you are right, and that your mother will finally agree with you; but I still don’t see the need of an unusual toilet for to-morrow.”

“It’s for the Governor,” said Dolly, “and one never knows what may happen.”

“If a bromidic remark may also be cryptic, Dorothea, you have achieved the combination. Now I must ask you a direct question, for, although I am not your keeper, but your friend, I am not disposed to let you do anything reckless. Why did you put that idea into Duke’s head—the idea of meeting you in St. Thomas?”

“I wanted to talk things over before seeing mother. I knew I could trust him. He has some elderly cousins and a sister-in-law; surely, between them, he could find somebody to bring along with him; and I have you, safest and wisest of Charlottes! Duke is one of the legal advisers of the Shipping Board. Why should n’t he have business in these islands? Besides, it is a practical impossibility that he should