"No. Leave that to me. No man living shall say 'Yes' or 'No' to me where you are concerned, Iris."
"Do not be hard with him, Philip dear. He was always good to me, and—and—I have grown a wee bit afraid of you."
"Afraid!"
"Yes. You are so much older, so much sterner, than when you and I looked at the Southern Cross together from the bridge of the Andromeda."
"I was a boy then, Iris. I am a man now. I have fought, and loved, and suffered. And what of you, dear heart? We went through the furnace hand in hand. What of the girl who has come forth a woman?"
There was an open window at the end of the passage. Watts had bought, or borrowed, or looted a bottle of wine. Schmidt and he were in a shaded arbor beneath, and his voice came to them:
"It is always fair weather
When good fellows meet together…"
But another voice, hoarse as a foghorn, boomed through the door which Iris had left ajar.
"Bring 'er in 'ere, you swab. D—n your eyes, if you come courtin' my nurse, you'll 'ave to do it in my room or not at all. Wot the——"
"Come in, dear," said Iris. "The doctor says he is not to excite himself. And he will be so glad to see you. He has been asking for you all day."