Her voice failed her, and for a few moments she was silent. Captain Ladmore viewed me with a look of earnest sympathy. ‘If,’ continued Mrs. Lee, ‘our friend is like Lady Lucy Calthorpe _now_, she could not have been like her before she met with whatever it may be that has changed her. Therefore, since Sir Frederick believes her to be a Calthorpe simply because of her resemblance to that family, she cannot be anybody of the sort, seeing that she must have been a different-looking woman before she was found in the open boat.’ ‘Well, certainly, that is a view which did not occur to me,’ said the captain, continuing to observe me and gravely stroking his chin. ‘But how are we to know, Mrs. Lee, that our friend was a different-looking person before she was found in the open boat?’ ‘Her face tells its own story,’ answered Mrs. Lee, looking at me pityingly. I let fall my veil. ‘But to return to the motive of this interview,’ said the captain with an air of perplexity. ‘If I am to suppose, with Sir Frederick Thompson, that you are a member of Lord ----’s family, then my duty is plain. I must convey you on board the first homeward-bound ship which we can manage to signal, acquaint the captain with Sir Frederick’s opinion, and request him to call upon the owners of this ship in order that members of the Calthorpe family may be communicated with.’ ‘I cannot imagine that Calthorpe is my name,’ I cried, pressing my brow. ‘She is not a Calthorpe, captain,’ exclaimed Mrs. Lee, ‘and, since she is comfortable here and with friends, it would be cruel to remove her until her memory returns and she is able to give you the positive information you require.’ Captain Ladmore smiled. ‘I hope not to be cruel,’ said he; ‘whatever I do, I trust to do in the lady’s own interest. Then, addressing me, he continued, ‘You shall decide for yourself, Miss C----. You are quite welcome to remain in this ship. No feeling of being obliged need disturb you. We nearly drowned you, and it is our duty to keep you with us until we can safely place you. But consider that time is passing, that it may be of the utmost importance to your present and your future interests that your safety should be known to your friends. Whether you be a Calthorpe or not, yet if your home is in England, which I do not doubt, there are abundant methods of publishing the story of your deliverance and safety, so that it would be strange, indeed, if your friends did not get to hear of you.’ Mrs. Lee watched me anxiously. I gazed at the captain, struggling hard to think; a horror of loneliness possessed me. I was again filled with the old terror that had visited me on board the French brig when I thought of being landed friendless, and blind in mind, without money, without a home to go to, or, if I had a home, of arriving in a country where that home might not be. ‘She does not wish to leave the ship,’ said Mrs. Lee. ‘Then by all means let her remain,’ said the captain.