"Yes, take her part. What care you for the family name?"
"I have a right to speak for the family name," said the doctor firmly. "It was mine before it was yours. And I sometimes think, if we lived under more liberal laws, it might be mine after it had ceased to be yours.… I cannot see that the family name has been compromised in the slightest degree. This is Irene's first adventure. It will pass away. And even if it does not—he is a manly boy."
Mrs. Hardy surveyed her husband hopelessly, then turned to Irene. "Have you made any promises?"
"Only that I wouldn't make any promises until he had his chance. That seemed fair."
"I suppose you are receiving letters from him?"
"No."
"None at all?"
"None at all."
"Why doesn't he write?"
For the first time Irene's eyes fell, and the colour mounted richer in her cheeks. She had to confess now, not for herself, but for him.