“Sir?”
“Another thing. See that Dingle does not enter the house again.”
And Mr. Bannister resumed his writing, while Steve, gathering up the wheelbarrow, the box of bricks, and the dying pig, took William by the hand and retreated.
That terminated Ruth’s attempts to conciliate her father.
There remained Bailey. From Bailey she was prepared to stand no nonsense. Meeting him on the street, she fairly kidnapped him, driving him into a taxicab and pushing him into the studio, where he was confronted by his nephew.
Bailey came poorly through the ordeal. William Bannister, a stern critic, weighed him up in one long stare, found him wanting, and announced his decision with all the strength of powerful lungs. In the end he had to be removed, hiccupping, and Bailey, after lingering a few uneasy moments making conversation to Kirk, departed, with such a look about the back of him as he sprang into his cab that Ruth felt that the visit was one which would not be repeated.
She went back into the studio with a rather heavy heart. She was fond of Bailey.
The sight of Kirk restored her. After all, what had happened was only what she had expected. She had chosen her path, and she did not regret it.