'I will take up the defence of your reputation,' she said. 'You may leave it in my hands.' And with that she withdrew out of the library. "That's the end of chapter nineteen."
He closed the book, putting a marker in it methodically, as was his wont. Gabrielle thanked him. She smiled to herself, for it seemed to her that the words of Miss Grant with which he had recalled her from her abstraction had a curious and prophetic meaning for herself. She was thankful, for a moment, that she hadn't thoughtlessly given Arthur's reputation away to his comrades. She felt herself thrilled by a new and curious interest. She determined, as a part of her duty to his mother, to speak to Arthur himself about what she had observed.
She caught him in the passage just as the boys were going to bed, and drew him aside into the drawing-room. The room was quite dark.
"Arthur, I want to speak to you," she said.
He laughed. "What's the matter?"
"When we were playing cards to-night you cheated."
For a moment there was silence. Then he laughed again—not an uneasy, shameful laugh, but one of sheer amusement. It shocked her. At last he said:
"Did you see it? Then why didn't you make a fuss about it?"
She was thankful, at any rate, that he had not lied to her. That was what she had fearfully expected.
"I didn't want to give you away to the others."