Mr. Richmond smiled socially, not officially, and added a nod, before turning to greet the girls. He was not very impressive while saying that he felt greatly honoured to see Miss West in the class-room. He was sure that she understood his aims. Then Miss West said she was certain that it must be a great pleasure to him to lecture before a sympathetic audience. He evaded her evasion and enquired of Miss Severn if he might include her among the sympathetic members of his audience, and Miss Severn declared that she had learned more in ten minutes from him respecting the literary value of certain Scotch words than she had acquired by reading the two novels in the Scotch tongue which she had mastered in the previous four years of her life, and she hoped Mr. Richmond considered the attendance satisfactory. He assured her that sanguine though he had been as to the number of persons anxious to write novels the attendance at the fiction class amazed him. “And many who were present to-day were actually attentive,” remarked Josephine. “And one of the ladies defines Platonic Friendship as the reason why Brutus killed Cæsar--I hold the document in my hand,” said the master. Both girls cried “How funny!” and smiled their way to the door, which Mr. Richmond held open for them. On the way to Kensington Palace Gardens they agreed that the Khaki frocks then so popular would not survive another season. CHAPTER VI Lady Severn had survived the measured mile. Sir Creighton was jubilant. His daughter flew to him. How did the electric turbine work? What was the coefficient of energy developed over the measured mile? Was forty miles actually touched and what about the depression in the stern? Did the boat steer all right on the progressive principle? Did the Admiral grumble as usual? Her father gave her a detailed account of the strong points of the new system of propulsion, which every one had recognised, and of the weak points, which he alone had detected, and then she was able to drink her tea, and so was Sir Creighton. Lady Severn said the lunch was excellent; only when travelling by water at the rate of forty-two knots every one seemed inclined to eat at the rate of fifty knots. After drinking a cup of tea Sir Creighton looked at the clock and sighed. “The day is gone before one gets any work done,” he said. “I have not been in my room since yesterday afternoon, Joe,” he added, looking at Josephine as if hoping to find in her a sympathetic audience. “You’ll get no sympathy from me, Sir Creighton,” she laughed. “You have done more to-day than all the men of your craft--I suppose that a turbine boat may be called a craft--have succeeded in accomplishing during the past hundred years--forty knots!--just think of it!--and yet you complain of not being able to get anything done! Oh, no; you’ll get no sympathy from me.”