'I did all I could to dissuade him, but——'
'I know, suffering from daughter on the brain…. Tell me, shall we see much of him? Will he come down every day to lunch, and what about dinner?'
'I hope not, I think not… he has his typewriting to attend to.'
'At all events the mystery is cleared up. I don't think I ever was believed when I said that I had once spoken to him on the stairs.'
'Do you hear that, Major? Mr. Moulton says that he doesn't think he ever was believed when he said that he had once spoken to you on the staircase. Major, do you hear?'
'Yes, dear, I hear. But I am talking to Reggie about Miss Lahens. By the way, Mr. Moulton, my daughter, Miss Lahens, is coming home to-day, so I hope that you'll be guarded in your conversation, and will say nothing that a young girl may not hear.'
'I shall be very pleased to see Agnes again,' said Moulton. 'If I had thought of it I would have read up the lives of the saints.'
'I beg, Mr. Moulton, that you do not speak disrespectfully of Miss Lahens. Perhaps there is nothing in your conversation that is fit for her to hear.'
Moulton looked at Mrs. Lahens, then taking in the situation, he said:
'If I have the pleasure of talking to Miss Lahens I shall confine my conversation to those subjects with which she is familiar. I shall acquit myself better than you, I think, Major; I have a sister who is a nun. I know a good deal about convents.'