"Wait!" I implored, striving to detain her. Somehow I felt that if she went I should never see her again.
"Let me go, Mr. Chadwick; I have only the kindest regards for you."
"But the money?"
"The money?" echoed my sister.
"Nan," said I indignantly, "but for this young lady, who, I dare say, comes of as good a family as ours— Well, if it hadn't been for her you might have carried me home in a pine box."
"Robert!"—aghast.
"Miss Carruthers is a lady," I declared vehemently.
"Carruthers? You are English?" asked my sister, her frown smoothing. "You will certainly pardon me if I have been rude; but this brother of mine—"
"Is a very good gentleman," Miss Carruthers interrupted. "My name is now known to you; yours—"