'There now!' in a tone of triumph. 'Oh, if you would speak that out before all Axmouth! Oh, how happy you would make my mother!'
'That—that is not possible.'
'Why not?'
'There are reasons. They are weighty. I cannot fully explain. For one, I am here taking the waters.'
'Then let me call him back. Say the words before Jack. He is not a bad fellow, honest and true, and he will believe you and tell the truth to every one.'
'For Heaven's sake, no!'
'Why not? It is the truth.' She paused. 'Are you ashamed of me as your daughter?'
'No, a thousand times no; and since you have been new fitted out by Madame Delmarc and Miss—Miss—I forget the name—ten thousand times no.'
'Then why? Are you ashamed of my mother?'
He groped in his pocket with twitching fingers, but could find neither latchkey nor pencil to put to his tongue or lips.