“I would not like to, but there are things I should dislike even more, and having you escape is one of them.”
The other thought it over. “The trouble is,” he explained, “that I am impulsive. You must have noticed it. I get carried away. You know how I am. I’m not at all sure that I shall remember.”
“I advise you to try, for this is the only warning you will get.”
“I cannot believe, Holland, that you would really shoot me in cold blood in the presence of my own sister.”
“You had better behave as if you believed it.”
“I don’t like this arrangement,” McVay broke out peevishly. “Suppose, for the sake of argument, that I did forget,—that I put my hand on your shoulder—a very natural gesture.”
“I should shoot instantly.”
“But fancy the shock to Cecilia.”
“Not more of a shock, perhaps, than discovering that you are a thief. And another thing, it may be very gay and amusing to be forever fooling about the subject, but I advise you against it. It does not amuse me.”
“Oh, be honest, Holland, it does, it must amuse you. It is essentially amusing.”