'I thought so,' said Wentworth; 'just look at the divine influence of woman! Miss Longworth rises early, therefore John Kenyon rises early. Miss Brewster rises late, therefore George Wentworth is not seen until breakfast-time. If the conditions were reversed, I suppose the getting-up time of the two men would be changed accordingly.' 'Not at all, George--not at all. I would rise early whether anybody else on board did or not. In fact, when I got on deck this morning, I expected to have it to myself.' 'I take it, though, that you were not grievously disappointed when you found you hadn't a monopoly?' 'Well, to tell the truth, I was not; Miss Longworth is a charmingly sensible girl.' 'Oh, they all are,' said Wentworth lightly. 'You had no sympathy for me the other day. Now you know how it is yourself, as they say across the water.' 'I don't know how it is myself. The fact is, we were talking business.' 'Really? Did you get so far?' 'Yes, we got so far, if that is any distance. I told her about the mica-mine.' 'Oh, you did! What did she say? Will she invest?' 'Well, when I told her we expected to form a company for fifty thousand pounds, she said it was such a small sum, she doubted if we could get anybody interested in it in London.' Wentworth, who was now well advanced with his dressing, gave a long whistle. 'Fifty thousand pounds a small sum? Why, John, she must be very wealthy! Probably more so than the American millionairess.' 'Well, George, you see, the difference between the two young ladies is this: that while American heiresses are apt to boast of their immense wealth, English women say nothing about it.' 'If you mean Miss Brewster when you speak in that way, you are entirely mistaken. She has never alluded to her wealth at all, with the exception of saying that her father was a millionaire. So if the young woman you speak of has been talking of her wealth at all, she has done more than the American girl.' 'She said nothing to indicate she was wealthy. I merely conjectured it when I discovered she looked upon fifty thousand pounds as a triviality.' 'Well, the fault is easily remedied. We may raise the price of the mine to one hundred thousand pounds if we can get people to invest. Perhaps the young lady's father might care to go in for it at that figure.' 'Oh, by the way, Wentworth,' said Kenyon, 'I forgot to tell you, Miss Longworth's father is one of the London Syndicate.' 'By Jove! are you sure of that? How do you know? You weren't talking of our mission out there, were you?' 'Certainly not,' replied Kenyon, flushing. 'You don't think I would speak of that to a stranger, do you? nor of anything concerned with our reports.' Wentworth proceeded with his dressing, a guilty feeling rising in his heart. 'I want to ask you a question about that.' 'About what?' said Wentworth shortly.