CHAPTER 10
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LUCIA:
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WE DID NOT REACH LONDON soon enough.
There was something of a fuss the day before the landing and disembarkment at Southampton. When Charley and I returned from a poolside amble around the middle deck, the chief purser, a steward, and several passengers were gathered around the cabins near our passageway. Some of the staterooms had been riffled through, some cash missing, but the greatest outcry came regarding the many precious belongings—the fabulous jewels which had been on display each evening at dinner—that had been discovered to be absent from the cabins of their respective owners. The ship’s staff and crew were investigating this very serious matter.
Our cabin was further down, along the same passageway, and we hurried to it. We foun
