"Much too fond of you. It's playing the devil with him."
"Poor mite—at his age! Well—what do you propose?"
"I propose that he should be with somebody who hasn't that effect, who can keep him quiet. Miss Collett very kindly offered——"
"Dear Gertrude, you can't. You've got your hands full."
"Not so full that they can't hold a little more." Gertrude said it with extreme sweetness.
"Can they hold Hughy?"
"They've held Jacky," said Brodrick, "for the last year. He never gives any trouble."
"He never feels it. Poor Baby has got nerves——"
"Well, my dear girl, isn't it all the more reason why he should be with somebody who hasn't got 'em?"
"Poor Gertrude, she'll have more nerves than any of us if she has to look after the house, and the accounts, and Jacky, and Hughy, and you——"