She spoke very earnestly, her eyes under their straight brows, looking directly into his,—­honest eyes that no man could doubt.

Green stood facing her, his look as kind as her own.  “Do you know, Miss Moore,” he said, “I think this is about the kindest thing that has ever come into my experience?”

She made a slight gesture of protest.  “Oh, but don’t let us talk in superlatives!” she said.  “Fetch Robin back, and both of you stay to tea!”

He shook his head.  “Not to-day.  I am very sorry.  But he doesn’t deserve it.  He has been getting a bit out of hand lately.  I can’t pass it over.”

Juliet leaned forward in her chair.  Her eyes were suddenly very bright.  “This once, Mr. Green!” she said.

He stiffened a little.  “No,” he said.

“You won’t?”

“I can’t.”

Juliet’s look went beyond him to the figure of Robin leaning disconsolately against a distant tree.  She sat for several moments watching him, and Green still stood before her as if waiting to be dismissed.

“Poor boy!” she said softly at length, and turned again to the man in front of her.  “Are you sure you understand him?”

“Yes,” said Green.

“And you are not hard on him?  You are never hard on him?”

“I have got to keep him in order,” he said.

“Yes, yes, I know.  A man would say that.”  Juliet’s face was very pitiful.  “Let him off sometimes!” she urged gently.  “It won’t do him any harm.”

Green smiled abruptly.  “A woman would say that,” he commented.

She smiled in answer.  “Yes, I think any woman would.  Don’t be hard on him, Mr. Green!  He has been shedding tears over your wrath already.”

“He came here in direct defiance of my orders,” said Green.

“I know.  He told me.  Please never give him such orders again!”

“You are awfully kind,” Green said again.  “But really in this case, there was sufficient reason.  Some people—­most people—­prefer him at a distance.”

“I am not one of them,” Juliet said.

“I see you are not.  But I couldn’t risk it.  Besides, he was in a towering rage when he started.  It isn’t fair to inflict him on people—­even on anyone as kind as yourself—­in that state.”

“I should never be afraid of him,” Juliet said quietly.  “I think I know—­partly—­what was the matter.  Someone made a rather cruel remark about him, and someone else maliciously repeated it.  Then he was angry—­very angry—­and lost his self-control, and I suppose more cruel things were said.  And then he came here—­he asked me—­he actually asked me—­if I was sure I didn’t mind him!”

A deep light was shining in her eyes as she ended, and an answering gleam came into Green’s as he met them.

“I know,” he said, in a low voice.  “It’s infernally hard for him, poor chap!  But it doesn’t do to let him know we think so.  As long as he lives, he’s got to bear his burden.”