It had; but Leila Mortimer, not he, had rendered the decision, and so cleverly that it appeared even to Plank himself that he had dragged her off with him rather masterfully.

Clearly he was becoming a devil of a fellow! Sylvia turned to Siward, glanced up at him, hesitated, and began to laugh consciously: "What do you think of my latest sentimental acquisition ?" "He'd be an ornament to a stock farm," replied Siward, out of humour.
"How brutal you can be!" she mused, smiling.
"Nonsense! He's a plain bounder, isn't he ?" "I don't know.

...

Is he?
He struck me a trifle appealingly--even pathetically; they usually do, that sort.

...