"Not say such things?" the voice cried, and Mrs. Dennison could picture the whirl of expostulatory hands that accompanied the question. "But why not?"
Tom's voice answered in the careful tones of a man who is trying not to lose his temper, or, anyhow, to conceal the loss.
"Well, apart from anything else, suppose Dennison heard you? It wouldn't be over-pleasant for him."
Mrs. Dennison stood still, slowly peeling off her gloves.
"Oh, the poor man! I would not like to hurt him. I will be silent. Oh, he does his very best! But you can't help it."
Mrs. Dennison stepped a yard nearer the window.
"Help what?" asked Tom in the deepest exasperation, no longer to be hidden.
"Why, what must happen? It must be that the true man——"
A smile flickered over Maggie Dennison's face. How like Berthe! But whence came this topic?
"Nonsense, I tell you!" cried Tom with a stamp of his foot.