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his arm around her and looked soulfully into her eyes. ‘From the moment I set eyes on you, I have been a changed man.’
    Amazingly, this heartfelt speech did not seem to have much of an effect on the girl. She looked decidedly unconvinced.
    â€˜Never mind,’ Sophia interrupted them. ‘I shall give you the money for the journey as a wedding present.’
    â€˜Where did you get the money from, cousin?’ Janetta was all astonishment. ‘I thought you were quite destitute.’
    Sophia never batted an eyelash.
    â€˜I extracted it from the strongbox your father keeps in the drawer of his private desk.’
    â€˜You stole it from Papa!’ Janetta gasped.
    â€˜ Stealing is a word which has such negative connotations,’ Sophia protested. ‘I find your use of it strongly offensive to myself.’
    â€˜Besides,’ I added, ‘MacDonald deserves no better. Only think of his dastardly treatment of you and your gallant lover.’
    â€˜But he has done nothing to either of us,’ Janetta pointed out with a return to her distressingly matter-of-fact attitude. ‘Indeed, he is perfectly ignorant of our attachment—as I was myself until just a few days ago.’
    â€˜Why worry your head with such trifling matters?’ Sophia wondered aloud, adding, ‘In any case, your father will treat you both abominably once he learns of your scandalous elopement.’
    â€˜There can be no doubt of that,’ I seconded.
    â€˜But stealing,’ Janetta stubbornly insisted, ‘cannot be right.’
    She crossed her arms, and it began to look as though she were going to be alarmingly stubborn on this point. I knew that I must try to make her understand the ways of the world, of which she was clearly much ignorant.
    â€˜Right and wrong, good and evil,’ I said gently, as to a child, ‘are foolish distinctions which great souls like ourselves leave to those who are less enlightened.’
    â€˜If right and wrong are essentially meaningless,’ she answered pertly, ‘then it stands to reason that you cannot possibly condemn Papa’s treatment of myself—or anybody’s treatment of anyone! It is all relative.’
    The sudden intrusion of logic into the conversation overset me momentarily, but I recovered quickly.
    â€˜Of course, certain actions are more . . . acceptable . . . than others, when done by certain persons who are more . . . enlightened. . . .’
    â€˜This is nonsense!’ Janetta interrupted me quite rudely. ‘Has all you have told me been equally silly?’
    â€˜Do not fling logic at us, my dear Janetta,’ Sophia said, painfully stung by her baseless accusations. ‘Some things are above reason, after all.’
    â€˜And some are beneath contempt,’ M’Kenrie commented.
    â€˜I’m sure I don’t know what you mean, sir,’ Sophia replied.
    â€˜Just give me the money, ma’am.’ The captain held out his hand, his eyes hard and cold. ‘I’ll take care of the rest.’
    â€˜I don’t know about this,’ Janetta said, stepping back, and looking almost as if she were about to run away.
    â€˜But I do!’
    These words were spoken by M’Kenrie; and, to give him credit, he wasted no time in demonstrating why she should indeed elope with him. In a flash, she was in his arms and being thoroughly kissed once more, with a great deal of fondling and mauling besides. When he finally raised his head, Janetta was so overcome by emotion that she seemed about to swoon. I took this as the perfect time to whisk her away.
    â€˜Do hurry, Sophia,’ I urged my friend. ‘We do not want MacDonald to apprehend them before they have even reached the high road.’
    â€˜He’ll take the high road,’ M’Kenrie smiled. ‘But I’ll take the low road.’
    With that, he grabbed the money in one hand and Janetta’s wrist