"Why not?" she asked, with a note of defiance in her voice.
"But he's upside down with his father, and has been for a long time."
"What of that?"
"What are you going to live on?"
"Charlie is going to work."
"Charlie work!" The words slipped out before he could stop them. "Of course, I'd forgotten that," he added.
"You're like a lot of other people, who can't say a good word for him, because they're jealous of him," she cried.
He did not reply for a moment; when he did, it was to say very gravely:
"Naturally I am very, very jealous; it would be strange if it were otherwise. I wish you every happiness from the bottom of my heart."
"Thank you," replied Mavis, mollified.