"It had to be said,
you know. I wanted you so much to come; I wanted to share my
beautiful vessel with you; and yet I dreaded any kind of a false
position."
"I shall treat you precisely as I would any owner of any ship I
sailed on," he said. "That is, with respect and always preserving
my distance. I will never address you first except to say good-
morning and good-evening, and will show no concern if you do not
speak to me for days on end."
"Oh, Frank, you are an angel!" she cried.
"No," he returned, "only--as far as I can--a gentleman, Miss
Fenacre."
"We needn't begin now, Frank," she exclaimed, almost with
annoyance.
"Am I in your service?" he asked.
"From to-day," she answered, "and I will give you a note to
Captain Landry."
"Then you will be Miss Fenacre to me from now on," he said.
"You must say good-bye to Florence first," she said, smiling. "You
may kiss my hand," she said, as she gave it to him. "You used to
do it so gallantly in the old days--such a Spaniard that you are,
Frank--and I liked it so much!"
He did so, and for the first time in his life with a kind of
shame.
"I hope we are not both of us making a terrible mistake,
Florence," he said.
"Oh, I couldn't want a better chief!" she said, "and, as for you,
it's the wisest thing you ever did. It's me, after all, who is
making the sacrifice, for, in a month or two, all the gilt will
wear off, and you will see me as I really am. You will find it
very disillusioning to go to sea with your divinity," she added.
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