The berth was pretty enough for the cradle of a duchess's first
baby. Even Lesbia, spoiled by much indulgence and unlimited credit, gave
a little cry of pleasure at sight of the nest that had been made ready
for her.
'Really, Mr. Smithson is immensely kind!' she exclaimed.
'Smithson is always kind,' answered Lady Kirkbank, 'and you don't half
enough appreciate him. He has given me his very own cabin--such a dear
little den! There are his cigar boxes and everything lovely on the
shelves, and his own particular dressing-case put open for me to
use--all the backs of all the brushes _repousse_ silver, and all the
scent-bottles filled expressly for me. If the yacht would only stand
quite still, I should think it more delicious than the best house I ever
stayed in: only I don't altogether enjoy that little way it has of
gurgling up and down perpetually.'
Mr. Smithson's chief butler, a German Swiss, and a treasure of
intelligence, had come down to take the domestic arrangements of the
yacht into his control. The Park Lane _chef_ was also on board, Mr.
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