CHAPTER EIGHTEENWe didn’t stop at the clubhouse. We went down the stone steps to the dock. It was a gorgeous sunny day. A few men who hadn’t had to get back to town for business were there in old slacks and sweat shirts or in bathing trunks, puttering about their boats or getting blistered in the sun. They would glance up as we came to them, say “Hi, Grace,” and nod to the Colonel, and then, as we passed, I could hear the uneasy silence settle down, feel it behind me. I knew they were looking and wondering, as well they might.
“I’m afraid I’m ruining your reputation, Mrs. Latham,” Colonel Primrose said as we came to Andy’s boat with the broken mast tied to the dock.
“Nobody will ever trust me with a secret again, certainly,” I said.
He had passed that and was down on one knee, looking i
