"So I'm a sport," said Mrs. Barraclough with a smile. "But even so, why should I want looking after?"
"That's what puzzles me," said Isabel.
Jane and Flora exchanged glances.
"I don't know whether we ought to," said Jane.
"He's my fiancé," said Isabel, "and you're jolly well not going to keep me in the dark."
"And quite incidentally," Mrs. Barraclough remarked, "he's my son."
"Oh, very well," said Flora. "It seems he was all over some great big, get rich quick scheme—and there was a chance anyone connected with him might be got at."
"Got at!" Mrs. Barraclough's dark eyes opened a little wider.
"Um! A tough crowd was up against him you see."
"I see." The old lady nodded gravely but there was a sparkle of excitement in her expression. "So you and Jane and Cynthia and Agnes are here to protect me against the assaults of—of a 'tough crowd.'"