“I shan’t withdraw it.”
“Not if you get no proof?”
George shirked this pointed question, and, as the interview was really less soothing than he had expected, took an early opportunity of escaping.
Mr. Espion came back, and asked why Neston had gone away looking so sulky. Isabel smiled and said Mr. Neston was vexed with her. Could anybody be vexed with Miss Bourne? asked Mr. Espion, and added,
“But Neston is rather crotchety, isn’t he?”
“Why do you say that?” asked Isabel.
“Oh, I don’t know. Well, the fact is, I was talking to Tommy Myles at the Cancan——”
“Where, Mr. Espion?”
“At the theatre, and he told me Neston had got some maggot in his head——”
“I don’t think he ought to say that.”