"Let us face the matter, dear! They are dear, good lads, and they are doing you the greatest honour in their power. There being two of them, of course"--and it came home to him that here were he and Gracie up against the problem of Carne also--"makes things very trying, both for them and for you. You like them both, I know----"
"I've always liked them both, and I don't like either of them one bit better than the other."
"Is there any one else you like as well as either of them?"
"No, of course not. I've never cared for any one as I have for Jack and Jim--except you, of course. Oh! what am I to do, Charlie?"
"As far as I can see, there is only one thing to be done at present, and that is--wait."
"Can you make them wait? Oh, do! Some time, perhaps----"
"If this war comes, they will have to go into it. They may neither of them come back."
"Oh, Charlie! . . . That is too terrible to think of----"
"War is terrible without a doubt, dear. It cuts the knot of many a life."
"My poor boys! But how can I possibly tell them?"