..."
"And what about me?" she demanded passionately. "Haven't I had a
shock?"
He melted at once.
"Have you had a shock, too? Poor little thing! Sit down and tell me all
about it."
She looked away from him, her face working.
"Can't you understand what a shock I have had? I thought you were the
perfect knight."
"Yes, isn't it?"
"Isn't what?"
"I thought you said it was a perfect night."
"I said I thought _you_ were a perfect knight."
"Oh, ah!"
A sailor crossed the deck, a dim figure in the shadows, went over to a
sort of raised summerhouse with a brass thingummy in it, fooled about
for a moment, and went away again. Sailors earn their money easily.
"Yes?" said Sam when he had gone.
"I forget what I was saying."
"Something about my being the perfect knight."
"Yes. I thought you were."
"That's good."
"But you're not!"
"No?"
"No!"
"Oh!"
Silence fell. Sam was feeling hurt and bewildered. He could not
understand her mood. He had come up expecting to be soothed and
comforted and she was like a petulant iceberg.
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