it his wife ... and that left me
to see after the yacht. D'you see? I had the choice of keeping Tomkins
aboard, or staying aboard myself."

"You might almost have given me longer notice," urged Jenny. "It seems
to me."

"No. I'm under instructions. I'm not a free man," said Keith soberly. "I
was once; but I'm not now. I'm captain of a yacht. I do what I'm told."

Jenny fingered her port-wine glass, and in looking at the light upon the
wine her eyes became fixed.

"Will you ever do anything else?" she asked. Keith shrugged slightly.

"You want to know a lot," he said.

"I don't know very much, do I?" Jenny answered, in a little dead voice.
"Just somewhere about nothing at all. I have to pretend the rest."

"D'you want to know it?"

Jenny gave a quick look at his hands which lay upon the table. She could
not raise her eyes further. She was afraid to do so. Her heart seemed to
be beating in her throat.

"It's funny me having to ask for it, isn't it!" she said, suddenly
haggard.

CHAPTER VII: MORTALS

i

Keith did not answer. That was the one certainty she had; and her heart
sank. He did not answer. That meant that really she was nothing to him,
that he neither wanted nor trusted her. And yet she had thought a moment
before--only a moment before--that he was as moved as herself. They had
seemed to be upon the brink of confidences; and now he had drawn back.
Each instant deepened her sense of failure. When Jenny stealthily looked
sideways, Keith sat staring before him, his expression unchanged. She
had failed.

"You don't trust me," she said, with her voice trembling. There was
another silence. Then:

"Don't I?" Keith asked, indifferently. He reached his hand out and
patted hers, even holding it lightly for an instant. "I think I do. You
don't think so?"

"No." She merely framed the word, sighing.

"You're wrong, Jenny." Keith's voice changed. He deliberately looked
round the table at the little dishes that still lay there untouched.
"Have some of these sweets, will you.... No?" Jenny could only draw her
breath sharply, shaking her head. "Almonds, then?" She moved
impatiently, her face distorted with wretched exasperation. As if he
could see that, and as if fear of the outcome hampered his resolution,
Keith hurried on. "Well, look here: we'll clear the table together, if
you like. Take the things through the other cabin--_that_ one--to the
galley; root up the table by its old legs--I'll show you