Layla moved a little nearer, her hand on the rail, her bare shoulders caressed by the soft glow of the lamp. Then Alfred said, "Ashley, I also don't like to be wrong about people. When you first asked for a passage on this ship, I thought you were a tramp, using Roy to smuggle you aboard, and having him in your cabin only increased that opinion. But the way you behaved afterwards, the way you looked, your freshness, and your courage in the storm..." He shook his head and put up a hand to grip a rigging rope.

"I began to like you, respect you even. I thought I had...