"She has been back once in that time," Jake said quietly. "She stayed one night with your mother at 'The Anchor.' The place is shut up now, and your mother has gone back to London. I thought possibly that she would have settled down here a bit with Maud. But she didn't quite see it. And it was as well, for the old uncle wrote asking Maud to go back to him, and she went."
"Without consulting you?" asked Bunny quickly.
"She didn't consult me certainly, but she knew I was willing for her to go." Jake spoke with a touch of restraint.
Bunny raised his head and looked at him with sudden shrewdness. "Who did she want to get away from? You? Or Charlie?"
A flicker that was scarcely humorous crossed Jake's face. "Maybe both," he said.
"And you--you quarrelled with Charlie?"
"No. Seeing he was a loser, I let him go in peace. It was the only thing to do."
"And he has got his knife into you on that account?" questioned Bunny.
"Maybe," Jake admitted.
"Then he's a low hound, and I'd love to tell him so."