“Then suppose we’re right in our idea of what this points to? You know my boy.”
“I like him. Perhaps I’d better say that if I found that Ruth shared my good opinion, I shouldn’t object. But I can’t guess her views on the matter.”
“I know Aynsley’s,” Clay said dryly. “We had a talk not long ago, and I offered to see what I could do.”
Osborne gave him a searching glance and his expression changed. He looked on his guard.
“So far, you have been able to get your son everything he wished for; but you must understand that you can’t dispose of my daughter. Ruth shall please herself.”
Clay’s eyes gleamed with rather hard amusement.
“It’s curious that my boy said much the same thing. In fact, he warned me off. He knows how I’ve indulged him and seemed to think I might put some pressure on you.”
“In the present instance it wouldn’t have much effect; but what you say gives me a better opinion of Aynsley than I already had.”
“That’s all right,” Clay rejoined, dropping his hand on the other’s arm in a friendly manner. “We certainly can’t afford to quarrel, and I don’t know that it’s unfortunate our children are more fastidious than we are. Anyway, we don’t want them to find us out. I’d feel mean if my son disowned me.”
Osborne winced at this allusion.