d doubtful people, eyes which could be, and were,
trusted "on sight," eyes which had seen a good deal but which could
never take nastiness into the soul to its harming. Her father was dead,
and she had a mother who, at the age of sixty-seven--she had really been
married at sixteen--was living as companion at Folkestone with an old
lady of eighty-two.

Susan Fleet was one of those absolutely unsycophantic and naturally
well-bred persons who are often liked by those "at the top of the tree,"
and who sometimes, without beauty, great talent, money, or other worldly
advantages, and without any thought of striving, achieve "positions"
which everybody recognizes. Susan had a "position." She knew and was
liked by all sorts and conditions of important people, had been about,
had stayed in houses with Royalties, and had always remained just
herself, perfectly natural, quite unpretending, and wholly free from
every grain of nonsense. "There's no nonsense about Susan Fleet!" many
said approvingly, especially those who themselves were full of it. She
possessed one shining advantage, a constitutional inability to be a
snob, and she was completely ignorant of possessing it. Mrs. Shiffney
and various other very rich women could not do without Susan. Unlike her
mother, she had no permanent post. But she was always being "wanted,"
and was well paid, not always in money only, for the excellent services
she was able to render. She never made any secret of her poverty, though
she never put it forward, and it was understood by everyone that she
had to earn her own living. Many years ago she had qualified to do this
by mastering various homely accomplishments. She was a competent
accountant, an excellent typewriter, a lucid writer of letters, knew how
to manage servants, and was a mistress of the art of travelling. When
looking out trains she never made a mistake. She was never sea or train
sick, never lost her temper or her own or other people's luggage, had a
perfect sense of time without being aggressively punctual, and seemed
totally unaffected by changes of climate. And she knew nothing about the
meaning of the word shyness.

When the big motor had gone off with its trio to desert places Charmian
suddenly realized the unexpectedness of her situation--alone above
Algiers with a woman who was almost a stranger. This scarcely seemed
like yachting. They had come up to the hotel because Mrs. Shiffney
always stayed at an hotel, if there was a