“No, though I waited and waited, I confess it didn’t, and it was without a breach of the silence or so much as a faint allusion to his sister’s condition and absence that we at last kissed for good night. All the same,” I continued, “I can’t, if her uncle sees her, consent to his seeing her brother without my having given the boy⁠—and most of all because things have got so bad⁠—a little more time.”

My friend appeared on this ground more reluctant than I could quite understand. “What do you mean by more time?”