Eight point six seconds! Samantha clicked the watch, as he ended up on
the bar counter, the finishing post. A new world record., A drink for
the new world champion- I'm next, time me, Sammy!
They were like schoolboys. Hey, watch me, Sammy! But after another ten
minutes, she handed the stopwatch to Tim Graham, who as a late arrival
was still sober.
I'll be back! she lied, picked up a plate with a large untouched hunk
of Angel's cake upon it and was gone before any of them realized it was
happening.
Nick Berg was working over the chart-table, so intent that he was not
aware of her for many seconds. In the dramatic lighting of the single
overhead lamp, the strength of his features was emphasized. She saw the
hard line of his jawbone, the heavy brow and the alert widely spaced set
of his eyes. His nose was large and slightly hooked, like that of a
plains Indian or a desert Bedouin, and there were lines at the corners
of his mouth and around his eyes that were picked out in dark shadow. In
his complete absorption with the charts and Admiralty Pilot, he had
relaxed his mouth from its usual severe line. She saw now that the lips
were full without being fleshy, and there was a certain sensitivity and
voluptuousness there that she had not noticed before.
She stood quietly, enchanted with him, until he looked up suddenly,
catching the rapt expression upon her face.
She tried not to appear flustered, but even in her own ears her voice
was breathless.
I'm sorry to disturb you. I brought some cake for Timmy Graham. I sent
him below to join the party. Oh, I didn't notice him. I thought he was
here. She made no move to leave, holding the plate in one hand, and
they were silent a moment longer.
I don't suppose I could interest you in a slice? It's going begging.
Share it/he suggested, and she came to the chart-table.
owe you an apology/ he said, and was immediately aware of the harshness
in his own voice. He hated to apologize, and she sensed it.
I picked a bad moment/ she said, and broke off a piece of the cake. But
this seems a better time. Thank you again, an( I'm sorry for all the
trouble I caused. I understand now that it nearly cost you the Golden
Adventurer. They both turned to look out of the big armoured glass
windows to where she lay.
She is beautiful, isn't she? said Nick, and his voice had lost its
edge.
Yes, she's beautiful/ Samantha agreed, and suddenly they were very close
in the intimate ruddy glow of the night lights.
He began to talk, stiffly and self-consciously at first, but she drew
him on, and with secret joy, she sensed him warming and relaxing. Only
then did she begin to put her own ideas forward.
Nick was surprised and a little disconcerted at the depth of her view,
and at her easy coherent expression of ideas, for he was still very much
aware of her youth. He had expected the giddiness and the giggle, the
shalowness an uninformed self-interest of immaturity, but it was not
there, and suddenly the difference in their ages was of no importance.
They were very close in the night, touching only with their minds, but
