Jake Explains Matters

"Brooding?" he said with a smile. "Well, it has been very dull lately and
we need cheering up. Suppose you send Mr. Fuller a note and ask him to
dinner to-morrow? He's sometimes amusing and I think you like him."

Clare braced herself for a struggle, for it was seldom she refused her
father's request.

"Yes," she said, "I like him, but it would be better if he didn't come."

Kenwardine gave her a keen glance, but although he felt some surprise did
not try to hide his understanding of what she meant.

"It looks as if you knew something about what happened on his last
visit."

"I do," Clare answered. "It was rather a shock."

"One mustn't exaggerate the importance of these things," Kenwardine
remarked in an indulgent tone. "It's difficult to avoid getting a jar now
and then, though I've tried to shield you as much as possible. Fuller's
young and high-spirited, and you really mustn't judge his youthful
extravagance too severely."

"But don't you see you are admitting that he shouldn't come?" Clare
asked, with some color in her face. "He is young and inexperienced, and
your friends are men of the world. What is safe for them may be dangerous
for him."

Kenwardine pondered. Fuller was an attractive lad, and he would not have
been displeased to think that Clare's wish to protect him might spring
from sentimental tenderness. But if this were so, she would hardly have
been so frank and have admitted that he was weak. Moreover, if she found
his society congenial, she would not insist on keeping him away.