His eyes brightened. "By Jove, I shan't," he exclaimed.
"I am going up to the poor child now," she went on. "I dare say you have frightened her almost to death. Naturally she is in great distress. I shall try to convince her that her decision does not alter her position in this house. I depend on you to do your part, Leslie. Make it easy for her to stay on with me."
He mellowed to the verge of tears.
"I can't keep on coming out here after this, as I've been doing, Sara."
"Don't be silly! Of course you can. This will blow over."
"Blow over?" he almost gasped.
"I mean the first effects. Try being a martyr for a while, Leslie. It isn't a bad plan, I can assure you. It may interest you to know that Challis proposed to me three times before I accepted him, and yet I—I loved him from the beginning."
"By Jove!" he exclaimed, coming to his feet with a new light in his eyes. The hollows in his cheeks seemed to fill out perceptibly.
"Good-night!"
"I say, Sara dear, you'll—you'll help me a bit, won't you? I mean, you'll talk it over with her and—"