He took his morning toilet and sat at the table as Susannah served bread and venison. They ate quietly, Susannah never looking up from her plate. Afte... breakfast, she went to put away and wash the dishes and repack whatever scraps there were. When she finally finished, she heard her father call out from across the room in a choking voice."Susannah. I'm sorry." When she did not answer he continued, "I should not have been looking at you like I was. I just forgot for a moment that you weren't. In mid-September, we received notice that by ‘paying in full’ before the first of October we would get a 5% discount. The ‘scare quotes’ refer to my justified cynicism. First off, the 5% was only off the amount less deposit and did not include currently unknown port charges and fuel surcharges. A 15% ‘gratuity’ paid at the end of the cruise was also expected. As it ended up, the 15% included all of the above charges. The gratuity somehow ‘forgot’ about the 5% discount we got by paying. You having that sexy new girlfriend that I’ve been hearing about all day and all.’ He finished with a knowing grin and a wink. I reached for my wallet, pulled out the money and handed it to him. He went to his lunch pail and pulled out what looked like a pickle quarter wrapped in tin foil. He handed the foil-covered package to me and said with a grin ‘Have fun.’ ‘You bet.’ I said lamely as I put the dope in my pocket. I walked to my car and started it up. For some reason I reached across,. God, but such a fool!"It was obvious that she was totally unfit to fight this day and Amanda turned to the manager apologetically. She hoped he would take the disappointment philosophically!"Sorry! We'll have to scratch this appearance. She should be fine next week. I mean, look at the poor girl, she's white as a sheet and looks as if she could throw up at any minute!"To say that the manager was annoyed would be a fairly irresponsible understatement. Amanda had never seen such fury written so.