"He's been a malade imaginaire all his life, and he isn't going to begin to put himself out for anybody now!" she said, scornfully.
"Your aunt, Miss Blanchflower?"
"I haven't spoken to her for years. She used to live with us when I was eighteen. She tried to boss me, and set father against me. But I got the best of her."
"I am sure you did," said Winnington.
She broke out—
"Oh, I know you think me a perfectly impossible creature whom nobody could ever get on with!"
He paused a moment, then said gravely—
"No, I don't think anything of the kind. But I do think that, given what you want, you are going entirely the wrong way to get it."
She drew a long and desperate breath.
"Oh, for goodness sake don't let's argue!"