I know that the plans of a lifetime are upset; I can't get much beyond that at present.' Mrs.Rossall was deeply troubled.

She sat with her eyes drooped, her lower lip drawn in.
'Do you refer to any plan in particular ?' she asked next.
'Yes, I suppose I do.' 'I am very, very sorry for Beatrice,' she said, in a subdued voice.
'You think it will---' Mrs.Rossall raised her eyebrows a little, and kept her air of pained musing.
'Well, what is to be done ?' resumed her brother, always impatient of mere negatives.

'He has delivered a sort of ultimatum.

In the event of this proposal--as to Miss Hood's return--being rejected, he marries at once.' 'And then goes back to Balliol ?' 'No, simply abandons his career.' Mrs.Rossall smiled.

It was not in woman's nature to be uninterested by decision such as this.
'Do you despair of influencing him ?' she asked.
'Entirely.