"And are you going to do something--some work, I mean?" she asked
breathlessly.
"For the immediate present I am going to stay at home and look after
you," he replied.
Philippa's face fell. Her manner became notably colder.
"You are very wise," she declared. "Mr. Lessingham is a most
fascinating person. We are all half in love with him--even Helen."
"The fellow must have a way with him," Sir Henry conceded grudgingly.
"As a rule the people here are not over-keen on strangers, unless
they have immediate connections in the neighbourhood. Even Griffiths,
who since they made him Commandant, is a man of many suspicions,
seems inclined to accept him."
"Captain Griffiths dined here the other night," Philippa remarked,
"and I noticed that he and Mr. Lessingham seemed to get on very well."
"The fellow's all right in his way, no doubt," Sir Henry began.
"Of course he is," Philippa interrupted. "Helen likes him quite as
much as I do."
"Does he make love to Helen, too?" Sir Henry ventured.
"Don't talk nonsense!" Philippa retorted. "He isn't that sort of
a man at all. If he has made love to me, he has done so because I
have encouraged him, and if I have encouraged him, it is your fault."
Sir Henry, with an impatient exclamation, rose from his place and
took a cigarette from an open box.
"Quite time I stayed at home, I can see.
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