What could these preposterous and abominable charges mean? What
was this lie they had invented to ruin her father? That he had
enemies she well knew. What strong man had not? Indeed, his
proverbial honesty had made him feared by all evil-doers and on
one occasion they had gone so far as to threaten his life. This
new attack was more deadly than all--to sap and destroy his
character, to deliberately fabricate lies and calumnies which had
no foundation whatever. Of course, the accusation was absurd, the
Senate would refuse to convict him, the entire press would espouse
the cause of so worthy a public servant. Certainly, everything
would be done to clear his character. But what was being done? She
could do nothing but wait and wait. The suspense and anxiety were
awful.

Suddenly she heard a familiar step behind her, and Jefferson
joined her at the rail. The wind was due West and blowing half a
gale, so where they were standing--one of the most exposed parts
of the ship--it was difficult to keep one's feet, to say nothing
of hearing anyone speak. There was a heavy sea running, and each
approaching wave looked big enough to engulf the vessel, but as
the mass of moving water reached the bow, the ship rose on it,
light and graceful as a bird, shook off the flying spray as a cat
shakes her fur after an unwelcome bath, and again drove forward as
steady and with as little perceptible motion as a railway train.
Shirley was a fairly good sailor and this kind of weather did not
bother her in the least, but when it got very rough she could not
bear the rolling and pitching and then all she was good for was to
lie still in her steamer chair with her eyes closed until the
water was calmer and the pitching ceased.