“It depends. I know you too well.”
“No; it's quite reasonable, and possible. Promise!”
“All right; if it is.”
“I want you to let me take the lease of the Red House—let it be mine, the whole thing—let me pay for everything there.”
“Reasonable! What's the point?”
“Only that I shall have a proper home of my own. I can't explain, but your mother's coming to-day made me feel I must.”
“My child, how could I possibly live on YOU there? It's absurd!”
“You can pay for everything else; London—travelling—clothes, if you like. We can make it square up. It's not a question of money, of course. I only want to feel that if, at any moment, you don't need me any more, you can simply stop coming.”
“I think that's brutal, Gyp.”
“No, no; so many women lose men's love because they seem to claim things of them. I don't want to lose yours that way—that's all.”