"Nonsense."
"Well, she broke it off. You see—you remember that girl at the diggings, Carstairs, I used to give her a few music lessons and that sort of thing. Well, she got hold of Isabel and told her all about it; of course I couldn't deny it. It seemed to me she took a very narrow-minded view of it. So we broke off the engagement. Anyway, I could never have run smoothly with her, besides, the old Doctor's too much of an autocrat."
"Oh! but you could have pacified her surely, she'll forget that."
"I'm afraid not, mater. The more we talked, the further apart we seemed to get. I said I was sorry and all that, but this has been coming on for some time. We haven't been hitting it at all well for months past."
Mrs Darwen and Carstairs were silent.
"As a matter of fact," Darwen proceeded, "I'm getting sick of this place and all the people in it, I want a change. Your people were good enough to ask me to come and see them whenever I liked. Do you think they could put me up next week-end, Carstairs? I like having a chat with your guv'nor. I must admit I'm rather sick over this business—disappointed, you know. I had built up an idol—you don't understand these things, Carstairs. If I stopped to think now I should feel suicidal."
"Don't talk nonsense, my boy. Can't you and Mr Carstairs go away for the week end?"
"Not together, mater, we mustn't both leave the works. If Carstairs' people could do with me for the week end——"
"I can understand these things better than you think, Darwen. The people will be very pleased to see you, I know." Carstairs was very sober. "The feminine mind is incomprehensible."
Mrs Darwen leaned over towards him. "I'll help you, Mr Carstairs. Come and spend Sunday with me when Charlie's away. Perhaps if I called on Isabel, Charlie—