"You can't even go that fast," Alfred complained, though his tone was still jovial enough. "Unless you purposefully get outside the weather charms."

The Sanditon was not really for sailors like him, though, and the weather charms had not been made with him in mind. They kept the breeze blowing in consistent yet very manageable little gusts, perfect for the casual sailor who just wanted to take a little sailboat out and put it through its paces once before coming back in for a warm supper at the resort. Presumably if Herbert Fudge was trying to attract more competitive sailors for a race, he would have the weather charms removed for the occasion.

"It's the sort of wind that wouldn't muss a lady's hair," he joked, though this was obvious hyperbole. "Have you been sailing there?"

(Uncle H sailed, right? Alfred just tended to assume that most people he liked must have at least a passing interest in watercraft, and Hamish Darrow certainly had a wealth of life experience to draw on, even if he was a bit old to go sailing now).

  

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER

"I have not," he admitted with a chuckle, "but I daresay you'll see that changed sooner or later."

— J. Alfred Darrow —

The following 1 user Likes Hamish Darrow's post:1 user Likes Hamish Darrow's post
   J. Alfred Darrow

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— set by the long-lost bex —

"Indeed," Alfred said, smiling over the rim of his beer mug. "I'm sure I will."

Maybe sooner rather than later, if what he was thinking about played out the way he thought it might.

  

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER