'I didn't think they mattered to anybody,' said Aubrey; 'we generally go our own way in the afternoon.'
'Oh!' said Dr. May. 'Interference with the liberty of the subject?'
Aubrey coloured, and felt he had not quite spoken truth. 'I could not give him up, father,' he said, less defiantly.
'No, certainly not; but I had rather you only saw him at home. It will be more for our peace of mind.'
'Well, father,' said Aubrey, 'I am not going there any more. He told me not himself:' and then with laughing eyes he added, 'He said you would not like it, Ethel.'
'Poor boy!' said Ethel, greatly touched.
'Very right of him,' said Dr. May, well pleased. 'He is a fine lad, and full of proper feeling. What sort of a berth has the old rogue given him, Aubrey?'
Much relieved that matters had taken this course, Aubrey tried to tell only as much as his friend would approve, but the medium was not easily found, and pretty nearly the whole came out. Dr. May was really delighted to hear how Sam treated him.
'If that fellow takes the oppressive line, there may be some hope,' he said. 'His friendship is the worse danger than his enmity.'
When the sisters had bidden good night, the Doctor detained Aubrey to say very kindly, 'My boy, I do not like to hear of your running counter to your sister.