"Pray sit down, sir," said Fan, who had been prepared for his arrival. "How are we ever to thank you?"
"There is nothing to thank me for, as your sisters can tell you," he said, bluntly. He looked a modest, pleasant little person enough as he sat there in his light overcoat and dress clothes, all the fierceness gone out of him. "I have merely come to tell you that nothing terrible has happened. It seems that the poor Frenchwoman below has been in money difficulties, and has been trying to put an end to herself. The Maryons discovered this in time, and it has been as much as they could do to prevent her from carrying out her plan. Hence these tears," he added, with a smile.
When once you had seen Frank Jermyn smile, you believed in him from that moment.
The girls were full of horror and pity at the tale.
"We have had a great shock," said Fan, wiping her eyes, with dignity. "Such a terrible noise. But you heard it for yourself."
A pause; the young fellow looked round rather wistfully, as though doubtful of what footing he stood on among them.
"We must not keep you," went on Fan, whose tongue was loosened by excitement; "no doubt (glancing at his clothes) you are going out to dinner."
She spoke in the manner of a fallen queen who alludes to the ceremony of coronation.
Frank rose.