"Take her hand," Maurice told him, softly, and the little boy, silent and frightened, obeyed; but he kept his eyes on his father.
Eleanor, with long pauses, said: "Dear ... Jacky. Maurice, did you give her ... five cents? He must have ... music lessons."
"Yes, Star," he said, brokenly. "Jacky," he said, in a whisper, "say 'I love you.'"
But Jacky whispered back, anxiously, "But I said it to the other one?"
"Say it!" his father said.
"I love you," said Jacky, trembling.
Eleanor smiled, slept for a moment, then opened her eyes. "He doesn't look ... like her?"
"Not in the least," Maurice said.
Jacky, quailing, tried to draw his hand away from those cool fingers; but a look from his father stopped him.
"No," Eleanor murmured; "I see ... it won't do for"—Maurice bent close to her lips, but he could not catch the next words—"for you to marry her."