CHAPTERXVIII
Twomorehourspassedbeforethelawyersandtheirclientrosefromtheirseatsaboutthelongtable。Eventhentheconsultationwasnotatanend。SylvesterandtheCaptainlunchedtogetherattheCentralClubandsatinthesmokingroomuntilafterfour，talkingearnestly。Whentheyparted，theattorneywasgraveandtroubled。”Allright，CaptainWarren，”hesaid；”I’lldoit。Andyoumayberight。Icertainlyhopeyouare。ButImustconfessIdon’tlookforwardtomytaskwithpleasure。IthinkI’vegottheroughestend。””It’llberough，there’snodoubtaboutthat。Roughforallhands，Iguess。AndIhopeyouunderstand，Mr。Sylvester，thatthereain’tmanymenI’dtrusttodowhatIaskyouto。Iappreciateyourdoin’itmore’nIcantellyou。Beas——asgentleasyoucan，won’tyou？””Iwill。Youcandependuponthat。””Ido。AndIsha’n’tforgetit。Good-by，tillthenexttime。”
Theyshookhands。CaptainElishareturnedtotheboardinghouse，wherehefoundaletterawaitinghim。ItwasfromCaroline，tellinghimofherengagementtoMalcolmDunn。Shewrotethat，whilenotrecognizinghisrighttointerfereinanyway，shefeltthatperhapsheshouldknowofheraction。Hedidnotgodowntosupper，and，whenPearsoncametoinquirethereason，excusedhimself，pleadingalateluncheonandnoappetite。Heguessedhewouldturninearly，sohesaid。Itwasapoorguess。
Nextmorninghewentuptown。Edwards，openingthedooroftheWarrenapartment，wassurprisedtofindwhohadrungthebell。”Mornin’，Commodore！”hailedthecaptain，ascasuallyasifheweremerelyreturningfromastroll。”IsMissCarolineaboardship？””Why——why，Idon’tknow，sir。I’llsee。””That’sallright。She’saboardoryouwouldn’thavetosee。Youandmesailedtogetherquiteaspell，soIknowyourlittlehabits。
I’llwaitinthelibrary，Commodore。Tellherthere’snoparticularhurry。”