"
"I suppose everything is satisfactorily settled now?"
"Well, hardly that. You see, Continental nations are extremely
suspicious of Britain's good intentions, as indeed they are of the
good intentions of each other. No government likes to have-- well,
what we might call a 'frontier incident' happen, and even if a country
is quite in the right, it nevertheless looks askance at any official
of its own who, through his stupidity, brings about an international
complication. As concerns myself, I am rather under a cloud, as I told
you. The court-martial acquitted me, but it did so with reluctance and
a warning. I shall have to walk very straight for the next year or
two, and be careful not to stub my toe, for the eyes of the Admiralty
are upon me. However, I think I can straighten this matter out. I have
six months' leave coming on shortly, which I intend to spend in St.
Petersburg. I shall make it my business to see privately some of the
officials in the Admiralty there, and when they realize by personal
inspection what a well-intentioned idiot I am, all distrust will
vanish."
"I should do nothing of the kind," rejoined the girl earnestly, quite
forgetting the shortness of their acquaintance, as she had forgotten
the flight of time, while on his part he did not notice any
incongruity in the situation. "I'd leave well enough alone," she
added.
"Why do you think that?" he asked.
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