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Coxeter moved forward and took up his place in front of the deck-chair, protecting its occupant from the jostling of the crowd, for the sheltered place he had found stood but a little way back from the passage between the land gangway and the iron staircase leading to the lower deck. There were more passengers that night than usual.
In fact he had sometimes angrily told himself that Nan attached no weight to his opinion, and as time had gone on he had almost given up offering her unsought advice. John Coxeter attached great importance to health. He realized that a perfect physical condition is a great possession, and he took considerable pains to keep himself what he called "fit." Now Mrs.
Coxeter, 'a gentleman, says Johnson, 'who was once my friend, enlisted in the service of the East India Company. Johnson asked Mr. Thrale to use his influence to get his discharge. Piozzi Letters, i. 33. The bookseller whom Johnson beat, ante, i. 154.
Such men, as every woman learns in time, are not good "stayers," but they make the time go by very quickly sometimes. With Coxeter every minute lasted sixty seconds. But Nan Archdale found herself looking at him with unwonted kindliness. At last she said, a little tremulously, and with a wondering tone in her voice, "You're very kind to me, Mr. Coxeter."
"Of course you've got to imagine this in a rough sea," he said sulkily, playing the devil's advocate, "and not in a fresh water river bath." "Well, I wouldn't mind trying it in a rough sea, Mr. Coxeter." Nan smiled as she spoke. Coxeter wondered if she was really serious. Sometimes he suspected that Mrs. Archdale was making fun of him but that surely was impossible.
Also that Mrs. Archdale had called him "Mr. Coxeter" at least once, when discussing that life-saving toy. Still, sharp, observant fellows, Jews! One should always be on one's guard with them. "Yes?" he said interrogatively. "Well, Mr. Coxeter, I want to ask you to do me a little favour. The truth is I've just made my will only a few lines and I want you to be my second witness.
They passed, a seemingly endless procession, moving slowly out of the darkness into the circle of light and then again into the white, engulfing mist. At last the deck became clear of moving figures; the cold, raw fog had driven almost everyone below. But Coxeter felt curiously content, rather absurdly happy. This was to him a great adventure.... He took out his watch.
Trying to account for what he had done, she had supposed that John Coxeter, being a man who evidently ordered his life according to some kind of system, had believed himself ripe for the honourable estate of marriage, and had chosen her as being "suitable." When writing her cold letter of refusal, she had expected to hear within a few weeks of his engagement to some "nice" girl.
She thought not she hoped not. She told herself quite seriously that he was one of those men who are far happier unwedded. His standard, not so much of feminine virtue as of feminine behaviour, was too high. Take what had happened just now; she had listened indulgently, tenderly, to the quarrel of the newly married couple, but she had seen the effect it had produced on John Coxeter.
With a quick movement Coxeter unbuttoned his cloak and drew Nan within its folds; putting his arms round her he held her, loosely and yet how firmly clasped to his breast. "I can't help it," he muttered apologetically. "Forgive me!"
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