“We—my son and I—are much worried about her. He met her down at Polton. She was staying there, and so was a man called Mr. Wainbridge.”
Here she paused for exclamations.
“Well?” said Paul.
“Not well,” said Mrs. Carden. “It is very wrong of Launa to stay at an hotel with a man—with—a—man. Do you understand?”
“No,” replied Paul. “Not what you mean me to understand.”
“They frequently had their meals together.”
“Quite right.”
“My son is in love with Miss Archer. He is as careful about her reputation as about his own.”
“He had better be,” answered Paul. “He should have held his tongue, and not have invented vile stories.”
Then he went away. Captain Carden immediately became furious, because Harvey had said he had invented stories.