Page:The Other House (London, William Heinemann, 1896), Volume 1.djvu/135

Rh dreadful vow to Mrs. Beever?" Then as she faced him again, wondering: "She told me that if you should turn up I was to pack you off."

Jean stared with a fresh alarm. "Ah, I shouldn't have stayed!"

"You didn't know it, and I couldn't show you the door."

"Then I must go now."

"Not a bit. I wouldn't have mentioned it—to consent to that. I mention it for just the other reason—to keep you here as long as possible. I'll make it right with Cousin Kate," Tony continued. "I'm not afraid of her!" he laughed. "You produce an effect on me for which I'm particularly grateful." She was acutely sensitive; for a few seconds she looked as if she thought he might be amusing himself at her expense. "I mean you soothe me—at a moment when I really want it," he said with a gentleness from which it gave him pleasure to see in her face an immediate impression. "I'm worried, I'm depressed, I've been threshing about in my anxiety. You keep me cool—you're just the right thing." He nodded at her in clear kindness. "Stay with me—stay with me!"