"I believe the others are out," he said, half sitting on the edge of the writing-table and proceeding to light a cigarette. "But, upon my soul, I don't know why you put yourself out to come down all this way when I told you plainly everything was fixed up."
"You thought I'd swallow that—and keep my mouth shut?" she retorted, bristling visibly. "I'm no fool, Nevil, if you are. I told you how it would be, when you went out in '99. You wouldn't listen then. Perhaps you'll at least have the sense to listen now?"
Nevil shrugged. "As you've come all this way for the satisfaction of airing your views—I've not much choice in the matter."
And the latitude, thus casually given, she took in full measure. For twenty minutes, by the clock, she aired her views in a stream of vigorous colloquial English, lapsing into ready-made phrases of melodrama, common to the normally inexpressive, in moments of excitement....
To the familiar tuning-up process, Nevil listened unmoved. But his anger rose with her rising eloquence:—the unwilling anger of a cool man, more formidable than mere temper.
Such fine distinctions, however, were unknown to Jane. If you were in a temper, you were in a temper. That was flat. And she rather wanted to rouse Nevil's. Heated opposition would stiffen her own....
"India of all countries in the world!" she culminated—a desperate note invading her wrath. "The one place where he should not be allowed to sow his wild oats—if the modern anæmic young man has enough red blood in his veins—for that sort of thing. And it's your obvious duty to be quite frank with him on the subject. If you had an ounce of common-sense in your make-up, you'd see it for yourself. But I always say the clever people are the biggest fools. And Roy's in the same boat—being your son. No ballast. All in the clouds. That's the fruits of Lil's fancy education. And you can't say I didn't warn you. What he needs is discipline—a tight hand. Why not one of the Services? If he gets bitten with India—at his age, it's quite on the cards that he may go turning Hindu—or even repeat your folly——"
She paused, simply for lack of breath—and became suddenly alive to the set stillness of her brother's face.
"My folly—as you are pleased to call it," he said with concentrated scorn, "has incidentally made our name famous, and cleared the old place of mortgage. For that reason alone, you might have the grace to refrain from insulting my wife."
She flung up her head, like a horse at a touch of the curb.