Even to Lady Lesbia this idea of the yacht was not without its
charm. She had never been on board such a yacht as the Cayman; she was a
good sailor, as testified by many an excursion, in hired sailing boats,
at Tynemouth, and St. Bees; and she knew that she would be the queen of
the hour. She accepted Mr. Smithson's invitation for the Cowes week more
graciously than she was wont to receive his attentions, and was pleased
to say that the whole thing would be rather enjoyable.
'It will be simple enchantment,' exclaimed the more enthusiastic
Georgie Kirkbank. 'There is nothing so rapturous as life on board a
yacht; there is a flavour of adventure, a _sansgene_, a--in short
everything in the world that I like. I shall wear my cotton frocks, and
give myself up to enjoyment, lie on the deck and look up at the blue
sky, too deliciously idle even to read the last horrid thing of Zola's.'
But the Cowes Regatta was nearly three weeks ahead; and in the meantime
there was Goodwood, and the ravelled threads of the London season had to
be wound up.
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