Ridicule was
something she could not endure, and to feel herself slighted made a
fury of her. Yet her outward self-control was perfect. Now, with a
dreamy look in her large blue-gray orbs, she gazed out to seaward, and
remarked as if in a ruminant mood,
"I think, take them all together, we have a rather stupid set of
passengers, this trip, don't you, Mr. Allyne?"
"I don't know," returned the attache, "are they? Fact is, I haven't
made much headway with the ladies yet, but the men are jolly enough in
the smoking-room--without being too jolly, you understand."
"Oh, of course; they are mostly gentlemen, I presume. Indeed I've
scarcely noticed them, myself"--"Ah! Mrs. Campbell!"--"with a few
exceptions of course," giving him an effective glance. "But the girls
are not much to boast of. That Miss Vanderhoff is positively homely."
"Do you think so? I know she has no special beauty to attract one, but
she looks bright and good-tempered, I'm sure, and I like her voice,
don't you?"
"Not too well. Those American voices are not to my taste. They
threaten my ear-drums."
"Do you call hers sharp, though, Mrs. Campbell? It's clear, I know,
and decided, but----"
She waved the subject aside, as if it were not worth discussing longer,
and asked,
"What do you think of the twinnies?"
Her tone, though laughingly contemptuous, was gentleness itself, and
young Allyne looked up, rather puzzled.
"Why, they seem nice, sweet girls; don't you think so?"
"One can't always tell by looks," was the ambiguous reply, and then she
began to laugh, as if in great amusement over some recollection.
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