He turned from the window, but in the same moment Scott wheeled also and took him by the arm.  “One moment!” he said.  “Eustace, we are not going to quarrel over this.  You don’t imagine, do you, that I interfere with you in this way for my own pleasure?”

He spoke urgently, an odd wistfulness in voice and gesture.

Sir Eustace paused.  The sternness still lingered in his eyes though his face softened somewhat as he said, “I haven’t gone into the question of motives, Stumpy.  I have no doubt they are—­like yourself—­very worthy, though it might not soothe me greatly to know what they are.”

Scott still held his arm.  “Oh, man,” he said very earnestly, “don’t miss the best thing in life for want of a little patience!  She’s such a child.  She doesn’t understand.  For your own sake give her time!”

There was that in his tone that somehow made further offence impossible.  A faint, half-grudging smile took the place of the grimness on his brother’s face.

“You take things so mighty seriously,” he said.  “What’s the matter?  What has she been saying?”

Scott hesitated.  “I can’t tell you that.  I imagine it is more what she doesn’t say that makes me realize the state of her mind.  I can tell you one thing.  She would rather go shopping with Isabel to-morrow than picnicking in the wilderness with you, and if you’re wise, you’ll give in and let her go.  You’ll run a very grave risk of losing her altogether if you ask too much.”

“What do you mean?” Eustace’s voice was short and stern; the question was like a sword thrust.

Again Scott hesitated.  Then very steadily he made reply.  “I mean that—­with or without reason, you know best—­she is beginning not to trust you.  It is more than mere shyness with her.  She is genuinely frightened.”

His words went into silence, and in the silence he took out his handkerchief and wiped his forehead.  It had been a more difficult interview for him than Eustace would ever realize.  His powers of endurance were considerable, but he had an almost desperate desire now to escape.

But some instinct kept him where he was.  To fail at the last moment for lack of perseverance would have been utterly uncharacteristic of him.  It was his custom to stand his ground to the last, whatever the cost.

And so he forced himself to wait while his brother contemplated the unpleasant truth that he had imparted.  He knew that it was not in his nature to spend long over the process, but he was still by no means sure of the final result.

Eustace spoke at length very suddenly.  “See here, Stumpy!” he said.  “There may be something in what you say, and there may not.  But in any case, you and Dinah are getting altogether too intimate and confidential to please me.  It’s up to you to put the brake on a bit.  Understand?”

He smiled as he said it, but there was a gleam as of cold steel behind his smile.