"Still," said Jaffery, "I think you ought to have somebody, you know."
"If you're so keen on a dragon," replied Liosha defiantly, "why not take on the job yourself?"
"I? Good Lord! Ho! ho! ho!"
Jaffery rose to his feet and roared with laughter. It was a fine joke.
"There's a lot in Liosha's suggestion," said Barbara, with an air of seriousness.
"You don't expect me to come and live here?" he cried, waving a hand to the frills and ribbons.
"It wouldn't be a bad idea," said I. "You would get all the advantages and refining influences of a first-class English home."
He pivoted round. "Oh, you be—"
"Hush," said Barbara. "Either you ought to stay here and look after Liosha more than you do—"
He protested. Wasn't he always looking after her? Didn't he write? Didn't he drop in now and then to see how she was getting on?