"I have no doubt you'd do your damnedest," said Ruth, dryly.
* * * * * *
It was not long before Cyprian sailed for the East.
Captain Wright, temporarily insane, though he was the only one who did not know it, began to drink at unusual hours. Muriel had taken three months to sicken of him and considered him exceedingly ungrateful. Weak.
Cyprian had shown himself much stronger. He went down to Ferlie's school to say good-bye to her.
"Like an uncle to the child, you know," her mother had told the Misses Mayne; who beamed over the avuncular visit, brooding on the Degrees and reflecting what a good thing it might be should he recommend the school while in the East.
"You will come back soon?"
"It will seem very soon, Ferlie."
"You promise, Cyprian?"
Nothing had ever succeeded in getting a respectful prefix out of Ferlie, though Mrs. Carmichael was uneasy lest the Misses Mayne should not feel quite happy over the familiar mode of address.