Our navy, in face of these new submarines, is no longer able to
secure us. France is working day and night upon them. It may be a
bogey, or it may not. If it isn't, she would have us at her mercy; and
it's too big a risk to run. You live in the same house with him, don't
you? Do you often see him?"
"Not often," she answered.
He was reading a letter. "You were dining there on Friday night, weren't
you?" he asked her, without looking up.
Joan flushed. What did he mean by cross-examining her in this way? She
was not at all used to impertinence from the opposite sex.
"Your information is quite correct," she answered.
Her anger betrayed itself in her tone; and he shot a swift glance at her.
"I didn't mean to offend you," he said. "A mutual friend, a Mr. Airlie,
happened to be of the party, and he mentioned you."
He threw aside the letter. "I'll tell you what I want you to do," he
said. "It's nothing to object to. Tell him that you've seen me and had
a talk. I understand his scheme to be that the country should grow more
and more food until it eventually becomes self-supporting; and that the
Government should control the distribution.
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