"I don't know. I haven't had a real talk with Patty yet, she's so fagged out. I want her to rest up. But she says she's bothered about Philip Van Reypen."
"Then depend upon it, it's somebody else! Farnsworth, probably."
"She could do a lot worse than to marry Bill."
"Indeed she could! But, all the same, if Patty doesn't want him here, he mustn't come."
"That's all very well, but how will you prevent it?"
"I don't know. Meet him with a shotgun?"
"Now, be serious, Jim. We must protect Patty at any cost. Can't we telegraph him on the train?"
"Not a chance. Do you think he knows she's here?"
"He can't know it. He may suspect it. Well, he'll have to come, and he'll have to stay over night; we can't send him packing, with no decent excuse."
"Tell him Cook has the smallpox."