"I am glad to hear it is only 'admire,'" he remarked, slowly, "for had the word been any other I should have resented it."
"You! And upon what grounds?" cried Alymer, flushing out in a rage.
"That is my business."
"And mine, too," said Maurice, hotly. "Isabella is--"
"I forbid you to call Miss Dallas by that name," declared David, in an overbearing manner.
"You--you--you forbid me!"
"Come, come, boys!" said Jen, annoyed at this scene between two hot-headed young men, who were not yet gifted with the self-restraint of experience.
"Don't talk like this. You are at my table. There is a stranger" (here he bowed ceremoniously to Etwald) "or shall I say a friend, present!"
"Say a friend," observed Etwald, calmly, "although I am about to say that which may cause these two young gentlemen to look upon me as an enemy."
"What do you mean?" asked Maurice, turning his still frowning face toward this strange and enigmatic man.