‘You’d better faint again, mother,’ remarked Edward.
‘Oh, Edward, how can you!’ cried Sheila, stung to speech.
She beckoned him to the bay window, as Mrs. Fairfield followed her husband to the door.
‘Edward,’ Sheila said, ‘are you sure you want me?’
He looked at her in surprise. ‘You know I do.’
Sheila felt that her question needed an apology. ‘It’s only that I hate to cause a fuss. Your mother does loathe me, I’m sure.’
He took both her hands in his for a moment. ‘Sheila, you’re not going to forsake me, are you?’
‘Not ... if you really care,’ she answered in a low voice.
Mrs. Fairfield from the passage stepped back into the room.
‘Children!’ she muttered, regarding the lovers with malevolence, ‘children ... no, vipers!’