She started up from her seat. Her mother protested.
"It'll make trouble, Jessie," she said sharply. "The boy's in no mood for talk—with Murray," she added warningly.
But Murray, himself, became the deciding factor.
"Jessie's right, ma'am," he said quickly.
And in those words he came nearer to the good-will he sought in the girl than he had ever been before.
"You'll talk to him as you've—said to us?" the mother demanded.
Murray's smile was warmly affirmative.
"I'll do all I know."
Ailsa Mowbray was left without further protest. But she offered no approval. Just for one second Jessie glanced in her mother's direction. It was the girl in her seeking its final counsel from the source towards which it always looked. But as none was forthcoming she was left to the fact of Murray's acceptance of her challenge.
She turned from the table and passed out of the room.