"It's no good, sir.

You can talk.

You won't make any impression." "But it's practically a matter of life and death, man!" insisted the colonel.

"You can't afford any silly sentiment in an affair like this." "I am not sentimental," Merryon said, and his lips twitched a little with the words.

"But all the same, since she has set her heart on staying, she shall stay.