"Then why——"
"Partly Elfrida, partly these," and he moved his arm to indicate his ancestors in their frames. "Noblesse oblige, you know."
"But—California." Her voice was a husky whisper.
"California, Betty. I——" he paused a moment and smiled as if at some unspoken thought. "I am interested in fruit-farming."
But here Lady Betty's self-control gave way. She knew that he meant what he said, and that if he left England she would probably never see him again. She began, incoherently:
"Oh, John, I can't let you leave me. Do you understand, I can't——"
A deafening clangour arose close at hand and drowned her words. When it had ceased Calamity did not wait for her to continue.
"The dinner-gong," he said. "Shall we go?"
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