'
'Not quite that yet,' began Owen, anxious to disclaim the captaincy,
when he was interrupted by the entrance of one or two other men, who
were, in their turn, named to him as Sir Samuel Spendall and Mr Deep.
Owen did not like their appearance and looked towards his really lovely
little sister, to see how she received them. Her manners had a mixture
of affectation and simplicity that was rather taking than otherwise. And
Owen wondered how Howel could leave one so young and pretty amongst
three men of the world, which he soon discovered his new acquaintances
to be. True, Miss Simpson was with her, and in the middle of breakfast,
to which, in due time, they sat down, another lady came upon the scene,
by name Madame Duvet, who turned out to be the English widow of a
Frenchman. She was young, handsome, but over-bold for the taste of a man
who was in love with Gladys.
She was at once taken with Owen's handsome face, and talked to him
incessantly, whilst Captain Dancy seated himself near Netta, and devoted
himself to her much more closely than Owen liked. However, he was very
hungry, and managed to make a good breakfast.
He heard Netta telling Captain Dancy that her brother had been at sea
all his life, and knew nothing of the fashionable world; at which he
thought the ham he was eating would have choked him, in his effort to
repress a laugh.
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