101. A Call of Love Read Free

found out where I was sleeping and knocked on the door. He made such a noise that some of the nearby passengers complained and this morning I had to apologise to them.”
    “So you thought I would be able to protect you from this man.”
    “Because you are so important,” the girl replied, “I felt, if he saw you talking to me, he would keep away.”
    “You cannot be sure of that. I suggest you tell me what your name is and if you know the name of this man who is being so tiresome.”
    “I am sorry, my Lord. I should have introduced myself when I was brave enough to speak to you.”
    “Well, you can be brave again now,” he smiled.
    “My name is Aisha Warde, and my father is Major Harold Warde, who is serving in India at the moment.”
    Lord Kenington thought that he had heard of him or had read the name somewhere, but he did not have any clear idea of who he was and therefore did not interrupt.
    “It is very exciting for me to go out to India to be with Papa,” Aisha was saying, “and I could not bear to tell him at the last moment that I could not come because I did not have a chaperone.”
    “I can understand that and, of course, this man who is troubling you must be told to behave. Do you know his name?”
    “He told me that his name is Arthur Watkins, but I don’t think he is a gentleman or anywhere near it.”
    “He most certainly does not sound like one,” Lord Kenington replied. “I will see that he does not upset you again.”
    “Will you really do so, my Lord? It is very kind of you.”
    “I still think it rather dangerous for you to be travelling alone with no one to chaperone you. I will make enquiries from the Purser to see if there may be people on board who would be glad for you to have meals with them and, of course, to see that no one knocks on your door in that unpleasant fashion.”
    “It was most alarming. In fact I was afraid the lock might give way and the door fly open.”
    “I think, as this is a new ship that the locks will be strong enough to resist any intruders, whether they are after your money or you.”
    Aisha laughed as he had intended and then she said,
    “It is very kind of you to take so much trouble, my Lord. I am only sorry to be a nuisance.”
    “You are nothing of the sort. I am travelling alone and, when I looked round at the rest of the passengers this morning, I decided I had no wish to talk to any of them!”
    Aisha giggled.
    “I felt the same. Then this horrible man came to sit at my table and I could not send him away.”
    “I think you were rather unwise not to sit with the Captain as you should have done.” “I thought the people at his table would want to talk to me and I had seen that some of them are rather strange-looking men who were obviously travelling alone.”
    Lord Kenington thought that she was rather more intelligent than the average young girl.
    She was clearly well aware that a man travelling on his own might be looking for someone as young and pretty as she was to pass the time with.
    “I will speak to the Purser,” he said, “and see that this does not happen to you again. Will you come with me or will you wait here until I come back?”
    “You will come back?” Aisha asked and now her voice was sounding anxious again.
    “Yes, I will come back,” Lord Kenington promised.
    He walked to the Purser’s office, which was not far, and, when he entered, he was instantly bowed to and the Purser enquired if there was anything he could do for him.
    “I have just been talking to a young lady passenger on board called Miss Warde, who I understand is having trouble from one of the passengers.”
    “Trouble, my Lord?” the Purser enquired sharply.
    “Yes, a man called Arthur Watkins is pestering her as she is travelling alone.”
    “Did you say Mr. Arthur Watkins, my Lord?” “Yes, that is the name. And I think that you should reprimand him sharply for upsetting a young girl and tell him to behave himself. In fact I am surprised he is