ss seemed a thing unthinkable, unimaginable,
with the Duchessa by his side, and the golden day ahead of him. By
skilled manoeuvring, and avoiding the recognized hours of meal-time, they
managed to escape further contact with their fellow passengers.

An exceedingly late luncheon hour found them the sole occupants of a
small courtyard at the back of an hotel,--a courtyard set with round
tables, and orange trees in green tubs. Over the roofs of the houses, and
far below them, they could see the shining water, and the _Fort
Salisbury_, lying like a dark blob on its surface. Boats bearing coal
were still putting out to her, and men were busy hauling it over her
sides.

The Duchessa looked down on the ship and the water.

"It is queer to think," said she smiling, "that little more than a week
hence, I shall be in Scotland, and, probably, shivering in furs. It can
be exceedingly chilly up there, even as late as May."

"I thought you were going to your old home," said Antony.

"So I am," she replied, "but not till nearly the end of June. I am going
to stay with friends in Edinburgh first. Where are you going?"

Antony lifted his shoulders in the merest suspicion of a shrug.

"London first," he responded. "After that--well, it's on the knees of the
gods."

"Are you likely to stay in England long?" she asked. And then she added
quickly, "You don't think the question an impertinence, I hope."

"Why should I?" he answered smiling. "But I really don't know yet myself.
It will depend on various things."

There was a little silence.

"In any case, I shall see you before I leave England again, if I may," he
said. "That is, if I do leave."

The Duchessa was still looking at the water.

"I hope you will," she replied. And then she turned towards him. "I don't
want our friendship to end completely with the voyage."

Antony's heart gave a little leap.

"It--it really is a friendship?" he asked.

"Hasn't it been?" she asked him.

Antony looked at her.

"For me, yes," he replied steadily.

"Can a friendship be one-sided?" she demanded. She emphasised the word a
little.

"I don't know," said Antony whimsically. "I don't know much about them. I
haven't ever wanted one before."

Again there was a little silence. Then:

"Thank you," said the Duchessa.

Antony drew a long breath. They were such simple little words; and yet,
to him, they meant more than the longest and most flowery of speeches.
There was so infinitel