“There are plenty of things to be feared for a child like that.  It’s a criminal shame to have kept her out here so long.  What I actually believe to be the matter at the present moment, is heart trouble.”

“Ah!  I thought so.”  Bernard looked across at him with grave comprehension.  “She had a bad shock the other day.”

“Yes; a shock to the whole system.  She lives on wires in any case.  I am going to examine her presently, but I am pretty sure I am right.  What she really wants—­” Major Ralston stopped himself abruptly, so abruptly that a twinkle of humour shone momentarily in Bernard’s eyes.

“Don’t jam on the brakes on my account!” he protested gently.  “I am with you all the way.  What does she really want?”

Major Ralston uttered a gruff laugh.  It was practically impossible not to confide in Bernard Monck.  “She wants to get right away from that vicious little termagant of a mother of hers.  There’s no love between them and never will be, so what’s the use of pretending?  She wants to get into a wholesome bracing, outdoor atmosphere with someone who knows how to love her.  She’ll probably go straight to the bad if she doesn’t—­that is, if she lives long enough.”

The humour had died in Bernard’s eyes.  They shone with a very different light as he said, “I have thought the same thing myself.”  He paused a moment, then slowly, “Do you think her mother would be persuaded to hand her over to me?” he said.

Ralston’s brows went up.  “To you!  For good and all do you mean?”

“Yes.”  In his steady unhurried fashion Bernard made answer.  “I have been thinking of it for some time.  As a matter of fact, it was to consult you about it that I came here to-day.  I want it more than ever now.”

Ralston was staring openly.  “You’d have your hands full,” he remarked.

Bernard smiled.  “I daresay.  But, you see, we’re chums.  To use your own expression I know how to love her.  I could make her happy—­possibly good as well.”

Ralston never paid compliments, but after a considerable pause he said, “It would be the best thing that ever happened to the imp.  So far as her mother’s permission goes, I should say she is cheap enough to be had almost without asking.  You won’t need to use much persuasion in that direction.”

“An infernal shame!” said Bernard, the hot light again in his eyes.

Ralston agreed with him.  “All the same, Tessa can be a positive little demon when she likes.  I’ve seen it, so I know.  She has got a good deal of her mother’s temperament only with a generous allowance of heart thrown in.”

“Yes,” Bernard said.  “And it’s the heart that counts.  You can do practically anything with a child like that.”

Ralston got up.  “Well, I’m going to have another look at her, and then I’m due at The Green Bungalow.  I can’t say what is going to happen there.  You ought to clear out, all of you; but a journey would probably be fatal to Mrs. Monck’s infant just now.  I can’t advise it.”