But Bunny refused to be dismissed thus perfunctorily. "You treat me like a child, Jake," he grumbled. "It's not fair. I'd sooner be pitched into than that."
Jake smiled faintly. "Well, what's the matter?" he said.
Bunny's eyes gleamed a little. "It's just this. I expect you'll be savage, but you've got to know. Maud knows all about the Stud and everything. She was bound to know sooner or later, so I don't see that it greatly matters. But I'd no right to tell her. And I did."
He ended on a note of defiance. His penitence had plainly not survived his long-drawn-out suspense.
But Jake heard him without any sign of displeasure. "Betrayed my confidence, eh?" he said. "Well, I reckon that's a matter for your conscience, not mine."
Bunny bit his lip. "You ought to have told her yourself, Jake," he said.
Jake nodded. He seemed to be past all feeling that night. "I know that. But she had plenty to think of without worrying herself about my affairs. Anyway she knows now."
"Yes. Knows you're thinking of going to America, Jake." Eagerly Bunny broke in. "And she's jolly sick about it, I can tell you. She doesn't want you to go."
"Oh, doesn't she?" said Jake.
Bunny seized his arm and shook it. "Jake, surely you won't go! She's rich enough to keep us all. She wants to share everything with you."