“A good deal to me.”
There was a moment’s silence.
Nigel looked surprised and more hurt than she would have expected. Then he said:
“All right, Bertha. I hope I can take a hint. I won’t bother you any more. I won’t try to help you in anything till you ask me.”
She was silent.
Then he went on:
“Might I venture to ask whether you suspect I’ve been making the most of our plans for Madeline to see as much of you as I could?”
“Oh, I didn’t say that.”
“If you had, perhaps you would have been right,” he said, but seeing her annoyed expression he changed his tone, and said:
“No, my dear, truly I only wanted to do a good turn for you and your friend. It’s off now, that’s all. I sha’n’t interfere again.”