care for the water?’

‘For the water? Yes, I like it very much.’

He looked at her, his eyes searching.

‘You don’t care for going on a launch, then?’

She was slow in answering, and then she spoke slowly.

‘No,’ she said. ‘I can’t say that I do.’ Her colour was high, she seemed angry about something.

‘Un peu trop de monde,’ said Ursula, explaining.

‘Eh? TROP DE MONDE!’ He laughed shortly. ‘Yes there’s a fair number of ‘em.’

Gudrun turned on him brilliantly.