Williamson wondered whether she spoke with naïve girlish prudery; if not, there was something he ought to know.
"Perhaps it's best for everybody; but we don't all like it, and a change is bracing," he answered with a smile. "I suppose you are looking at the thing from the moral standpoint."
"Not exclusively. Dick will soon be master at Appleyard, and that will bring him duties he ought to be fitting himself for. Then you may not know that he is not very strong."
"I guessed something of the kind, but a few late nights and a little excitement can't do much harm."
Elsie looked at him with thoughtful eyes.
"Possibly not, in most cases, but they are bad for Dick."
"If you would be quite frank it would help." Williamson was anxious to learn why quietness was necessary for the lad. "We might get on better if we understood each other."
"Have I not been frank? You could hardly have expected me to say as much as I have, even. But I am not Dick's doctor."
Williamson felt baffled, but he would not show it.
"You feel that I ought to have looked after Dick better. I think that's hardly just, because I have, of course, no control over him."