again, very gently. "Is that what happens? I've never heard that, not from anyone who's really been there and bought one."
"Why don't you try, dear?" said Dorothy. "I mean twenty-five dollars for a suit is cheap. And you do need some more summer outfits."
"Brooks Brothers is good enough for me." He knew it was a dull, foolish remark even as he said it.
"Well, it's not important." Dorothy spoke a trifle grimly.
Arlene's silence was monumentally tactful.
It was a Sunday night and there was no dancing after dinner. When Arlene had gone to her cabin, Dorothy suggested a walk round the deck before they went to bed.
After a while, she said: "Darling, I'm worried. I'm having a good time, a wonderful time. You don't seem to be."
"Because I don't happen to want to buy a suit in Hong Kong?"
"Now you're being tiresome."
"All right. That woman gets on my nerves."
"Arlene? But she's really a very nice person."
"Well, I don't like her and I wish she'd get out of our hair."
"She's not in my hair. I think she's being very sweet and helpful. Can you imagine what it would have been like in Tokyo if we hadn't been lucky enough to have her to show us around? It couldn't have been very exciting for her. She'd seen it all before. She went to a lot of trouble for us."
"Well, I wish she'd go to a lot of trouble for somebody else. Anyway, if she's seen it all before, why does she come on the trip?"
"Greg dear, you're usually more understanding and tolerant. She's a very lonely woman."
"And for some very good reasons."
"That's an unkind thing to say. It doesn't sound like you."
"Well, it is me. I told you, I don't like the woman. The chief steward told me she didn't want to sit with a crowd. Why not if she's so lonely? Why did she have to pick on us?"
Dorothy did not reply immediately and they walked once round the deck in silence.
"Look, darling," she said finally; "we didn't come on this trip just for a vacation, but because we wanted to travel and because we wanted to see something of the world outside America. If we were multi-millionaires maybe we could have done it in our own private yacht. As it is, we have to go with other people. We're not in a position to choose our travelling companions, any more than they're in a position to choose us. So, we've all got to make the best of one another. Isn't that common sense?"
Greg chuckled. "It's a poem, and beautifully delivered."
"Greg, I'm serious."
"I know you are, dear." He drew her arm through his. "That's why you're so cute."
He had recovered his good humour. Dorothy's homilies usually had that effect on him. Before they were married she had taught at a kindergarten school, and, in moments of stress, traces of the old Montessori manner were still discernible.
"You're maddening," she said.
"I know it." He stopped and kissed her cheek. "All right, darling, we'll be nice, well-behaved American tourists spreading sweetness and light and hard currency wherever we go."
"If you'll just spread a little ofthat sweetness in Arlene's direction, that's all I ask."
"You said make the best of one another. Okay, I'll make the best of her, whatever that is."
"Thank you, dear."
He sighed. "Anyway, I'll try."
And, for some days, try he did.
II
The Silver Isle was to be in Hong Kong for forty-eight hours, discharging and taking on cargo, and she docked on the Kowloon side of the harbour by the wharfs on the Canton Road.
This was convenient for the passengers. They could go ashore any time they wanted, and were within easy walking distance of both the ferry to Victoria and the Peninsular Hotel.
Left to themselves, Greg and Dorothy would probably have taken the ferry straight away and gone across to see Hong Kong itself; but Arlene led them first to the hotel.
"There'll be plenty of time for sight-seeing later," she told them. "Let's get organised first. I suppose you've heard that these Chinese can make anything from a pair of ear-rings to a man's tuxedo overnight.
"Why don't you try, dear?" said Dorothy. "I mean twenty-five dollars for a suit is cheap. And you do need some more summer outfits."
"Brooks Brothers is good enough for me." He knew it was a dull, foolish remark even as he said it.
"Well, it's not important." Dorothy spoke a trifle grimly.
Arlene's silence was monumentally tactful.
It was a Sunday night and there was no dancing after dinner. When Arlene had gone to her cabin, Dorothy suggested a walk round the deck before they went to bed.
After a while, she said: "Darling, I'm worried. I'm having a good time, a wonderful time. You don't seem to be."
"Because I don't happen to want to buy a suit in Hong Kong?"
"Now you're being tiresome."
"All right. That woman gets on my nerves."
"Arlene? But she's really a very nice person."
"Well, I don't like her and I wish she'd get out of our hair."
"She's not in my hair. I think she's being very sweet and helpful. Can you imagine what it would have been like in Tokyo if we hadn't been lucky enough to have her to show us around? It couldn't have been very exciting for her. She'd seen it all before. She went to a lot of trouble for us."
"Well, I wish she'd go to a lot of trouble for somebody else. Anyway, if she's seen it all before, why does she come on the trip?"
"Greg dear, you're usually more understanding and tolerant. She's a very lonely woman."
"And for some very good reasons."
"That's an unkind thing to say. It doesn't sound like you."
"Well, it is me. I told you, I don't like the woman. The chief steward told me she didn't want to sit with a crowd. Why not if she's so lonely? Why did she have to pick on us?"
Dorothy did not reply immediately and they walked once round the deck in silence.
"Look, darling," she said finally; "we didn't come on this trip just for a vacation, but because we wanted to travel and because we wanted to see something of the world outside America. If we were multi-millionaires maybe we could have done it in our own private yacht. As it is, we have to go with other people. We're not in a position to choose our travelling companions, any more than they're in a position to choose us. So, we've all got to make the best of one another. Isn't that common sense?"
Greg chuckled. "It's a poem, and beautifully delivered."
"Greg, I'm serious."
"I know you are, dear." He drew her arm through his. "That's why you're so cute."
He had recovered his good humour. Dorothy's homilies usually had that effect on him. Before they were married she had taught at a kindergarten school, and, in moments of stress, traces of the old Montessori manner were still discernible.
"You're maddening," she said.
"I know it." He stopped and kissed her cheek. "All right, darling, we'll be nice, well-behaved American tourists spreading sweetness and light and hard currency wherever we go."
"If you'll just spread a little ofthat sweetness in Arlene's direction, that's all I ask."
"You said make the best of one another. Okay, I'll make the best of her, whatever that is."
"Thank you, dear."
He sighed. "Anyway, I'll try."
And, for some days, try he did.
II
The Silver Isle was to be in Hong Kong for forty-eight hours, discharging and taking on cargo, and she docked on the Kowloon side of the harbour by the wharfs on the Canton Road.
This was convenient for the passengers. They could go ashore any time they wanted, and were within easy walking distance of both the ferry to Victoria and the Peninsular Hotel.
Left to themselves, Greg and Dorothy would probably have taken the ferry straight away and gone across to see Hong Kong itself; but Arlene led them first to the hotel.
"There'll be plenty of time for sight-seeing later," she told them. "Let's get organised first. I suppose you've heard that these Chinese can make anything from a pair of ear-rings to a man's tuxedo overnight.
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