‘And Mrs. Murrell is to write to me once a month. I shall make a point of seeing him at least twice a year.’
‘Thank you; and by the time he is of any size I shall have a salary. I may come back, and we would keep house together, or you might bring him out to me.’
‘That will be the hope of my life.’
‘I’ll not be deluded into reckoning on young ladies. You will be disposed of long before!’
‘Don’t, Owen! No, never.’
‘Never?’
‘Never.’
‘I always wanted to know,’ continued Owen, ‘what became of Calthorp.’
‘I left him behind at Spitzwasserfitzung, with a message that ends it for ever.’
‘I am afraid that defection is to be laid to my door, like all the rest.’