When we went back on deck Milton Harrington came and sat down beside us.
"Miss Cartwright looks very poorly," he said, and Felicity admitted that she was anxious about her. She thought she might be really ill, she said.
"We could run into bad weather round the Cape," he said. "It's called the Cape of Storms, you know."
"Oh dear," said Felicity.
"There are some who can't take the sea and Miss Cartwright is, I am afraid, one of them. And when she gets to Australia... she will have the prospect of the journey back."
"I wish she could go home," said Felicity.
"That would be easy enough."
"How?"
"She could go back from Cape Town."
"Alone!" said Felicity.
"Unless we went back with her," I added. I looked at Felicity. "We could hardly do that."
"Seeing how ill she was, made me think," said Milton Harrington. "I know Cape Town well. I have friends there."
"You seem to have friends everywhere," I commented.
"I travel a great deal. I call in at these places. One collects people."
"Like souvenirs?" I suggested.
"Well, you could call it like that. I could arrange something ..."
Felicity was staring out to sea. Was she wishing that she could go back from Cape Town?
"I'll talk to Miss Cartwright," said Milton Harrington.
"You?" I cried.
"Yes, why not? I am sure she would listen to me."
"I am sure she would think a man's opinion so much more valuable than that of someone of her own sex."
"Yes. I always thought she was a wise woman." He was looking at me and laughing. "I wish, Miss Annalice, that you shared her opinion."
"Could we be serious?"
"Indeed we can. She should go back. I have no doubt of that. I could arrange it quite easily. I could get her a passage on another ship. I might even know someone who is going back who could keep an eye on her. It is better for people in her state of health to be in their own homes."
I looked at Felicity. She nodded.
She said: "She would never agree to leave us to travel alone."
"I will tell her that I will keep an eye on you."
"You!" I cried. "She would think that most unconventional. Why we didn't even know you until we came on board."
"Friendship matures quickly when people live in close proximity. She would have to face the passage back, of course; but all the time she would be getting nearer home. You have no idea how helpful that can be."
"At home," I told him, "they only agreed that we could come because Miss Cartwright was with us. They would have thought it most improper to allow young women to go to the other side of the world alone."
"It only shows how mistaken people can be. Here are you two, taking care of Miss Cartwright. Leave it to me. The next time I see her I will gently hint at the suggestion."
He did.
The next day the weather was fine and Miss Cartwright came on deck again. Felicity sat on one side of her, I on the other. She certainly looked ill and the bright sunlight made her skin look yellow.
It was not long before Milton Harrington strolled past and came to speak to us.
"Miss Cartwright, what a pleasure to see you!" He drew up a chair. "May I join you?"
"If you wish," said Miss Cartwright well pleased.
"I was so sorry to hear that you were ill," he said. "The sea can do that to people. There are some who should never go to sea."
"And I am one of them," said Miss Cartwright. "I can tell you, Mr. Harrington, that when I have finished with this I shall never never make a sea voyage again."
"Nor should you. What a pity there is more to come, and then you will have the long journey home."
"Don't speak of it, I beg you. I dread it."
"You could, of course, cut the journey short."
"Cut it short? How?"
"By returning home from Cape Town."
I saw the gleam in her eyes; then it faded. "But, Mr. Harrington, I have to deliver my niece to her future husband. I am in charge of her and Miss Mallory."
"And you have carried out those duties with excellence. But, Miss Cartwright, if you become ill, how can you continue to do so?"
"I must overcome this weakness."
"Even a lady as dedicated and determined as yourself cannot overcome the sea."
"Well, I have to do my best."
"If you decide to return home from Cape Town, I can arrange it easily."
"What? Do you mean that?"
"I could fix a passage on a ship going home. I have friends who constantly make these trips. I could give you an introduction to one of them so that you did not make the journey alone."
"Mr. Harrington, you are so kind, but I have come out here to look after my niece."
"Her future husband will be waiting for her at Sydney. He will look after her from then on."
She was silent. She looked a little better already. There was a touch of colour in her cheeks. It was the pleasure of the prospect of soon being on English soil.
She gave a little laugh. "So good of you... but, of course, impossible."
"It would need a little arranging, certainly. But impossible, no. It could be done and without a great deal of trouble. Quite easily in fact."
"But these two..."
"They are both very capable young ladies. I would be there to make sure no harm could come to them. You could safely leave them in my hands."
I was amazed at the man's audacity. He was really urging her to go. Why? I wondered a great deal about him. His pursuit of me for one thing was intriguing. There was a certain intensity about him. He was very different from Raymond. He was the sort of man who would be capable of everything. I was realizing more and more how predictable, how reliable Raymond was.
"Oh, but Mr. Harrington ..." murmured Miss Cartwright.
"I know you are thinking of our brief friendship. But we have seen each other daily in this short time as often as one sees friends of years' standing. The span is unimportant. It is the time we have spent together. Just think about it, Miss Cartwright. The long expanse of ocean has to be traversed. True, you have to make the journey back from Cape Town, but you would be home by the time we reach Australia. And then your health would recover rapidly."
"You make it all sound so simple, Mr. Harrington."
"Well, remember that it is not impossible."
He then began to talk of other matters such as the places he had visited on his journeys. Always, he said, he wanted to return to England. One day he would settle there.
He said no more about Cape Town; but he had sown the seed.
I could see that Miss Cartwright thought of his suggestion continually, wrestling with herself. Could she come to terms with her conscience if she left us to make the journey alone? I imagined conscience had played a big part in Miss Cartwright's life. The prospect was so inviting. I knew from what she said that she sadly missed her home and garden. She found the heat almost as trying as the buffeting winds. She was not intended to travel the world.
A few days passed. Every now and then Milton Harrington—our constant companion now—would drop a little more of his honied suggestions into her ears. I was amazed at the skill he used. He never persuaded; but almost everything he said pointed to the advisability of her returning. Nothing could be done until we reached Cape Town, but he would have to know her decision by then. We were staying there for three days and we would need all of that time to make the arrangements.
I was thinking a great deal about him. He was a man who would have a motive for what he did and his pursuit of me could mean only one thing. I was not so simple as not to understand that. He had not mentioned a wife, and I did not know whether he was married. He gave an impression of virility and I gathered he was a man who would not consider it necessary to deny himself anything he desired; I was sure he must have known many women. There was an air of worldliness about him. I was very intrigued by him and wondered how far our friendship would have gone if I had responded to his advances.