It were better, she said, to part now rather than incur the risk of being unhappy later.

But Jefferson refused to be convinced.

He argued and pleaded and he even swore--strange, desperate words that Shirley had never heard before and which alarmed her not a little--and the discussion ended usually by a kiss which put Shirley completely _hors de combat_.
Meantime, John Ryder had not ceased worrying about his son.

The removal of Kate Roberts as a factor in his future had not eliminated the danger of Jefferson taking the bit between his teeth one day and contracting a secret marriage with the daughter of his enemy, and when he thought of the mere possibility of such a thing happening he stormed and raved until his wife, accustomed as she was to his choleric outbursts, was thoroughly frightened.
For some time after Bagley's departure, father and son got along together fairly amicably, but Ryder, Sr.

was quick to see that Jefferson had something on his mind which was worrying him, and he rightly attributed it to his infatuation for Miss Rossmore.