She sank listlessly into a chair at the table. Jimmie, judging the moment favorable to renew the attack, opened his mouth as if to speak, but before he could utter a word Fanny silenced him.
"Oh, shut up!" she exclaimed, more forcibly than elegantly.
"I didn't say anything," he protested.
"No, but you were going to!" she retorted. Turning to Virginia and pushing the tea-cup before her, she said coaxingly:
"Take your tea, dear, before it gets cold."
Jimmie was repulsed, but not beaten. The prize was too important to permit of his accepting defeat so easily. Rising from his seat, he said in a more conciliatory tone:
"I was only going to say—suppose he was to send for her—or come for her?"
Virginia looked up with an expression of mingled surprise and alarm. Almost anxiously she exclaimed:
"Robert—come for me! There isn't the slightest chance in the world."
The clerk grinned knowingly. With the self-important air of a man who enjoys the confidence of others, he said significantly: