Aunt Caroline arose from the table.
"Very well," she said. "But you needn't go up-stairs to discuss it, my dear. You can discuss it right here; that is, if you are able to talk to him at all, which I am not."
She walked stiffly out of the dining-room, leaving Mary and Bill facing each other from opposite sides of the table.
"Well?" demanded Bill.
She leaned forward and regarded him with complete disapproval.
"You nearly spoiled everything," she said. "Oh, please—please can't you be more reasonable, Mr. Marshall?"
"Reasonable! Do you call that stuff reason?"
"I haven't called it anything. But don't you see that it only makes these things worse to quarrel about them?"
"You don't even want to give me a chance to defend myself," accused Bill. "You tried to shut me up."
"I was trying to warn you to be more diplomatic."