Winter softened a little when the enthusiast crumpled up into a chair.
"Mr. Durrell, sir, try to realise that we are your best friends. Have nothing more to do with this scoundrel De Rothan. You've got something valuable to live for in the shape of a daughter."
Durrell mumbled, and twisted this way and that. Jeremy had cowed him, and seized the dominating influence that De Rothan had held.
"I will think over what you have said, Mr. Winter. Heaven knows I would not countenance any violence to this young man."
Jeremy left him a beaten man, and went out into the garden to speak with Nance. She looked steady and sure of herself, and Jeremy respected the strength in her. It struck him that she would be able to dominate her father now that Durrell had been shocked into a kind of panic.
"Well?"
"You must forgive me if I have been a little rough with your father. Soft words are of no use at such a time."
"What does he say?"
"I think he has surrendered to us. I had to 'tarrify' him, as they say in these parts."
"If only he would keep to his books."