'He's tired of us, and we had better leave,' Emily said, abruptly.

Hubert started a little; he looked appealingly at Julia, and seeing the
look of genuine pain upon his face, she took pity on him. 'You should not
speak like that, Emily dear; I can see that you pain Mr. Price very much.'

'I hope, Emily, that you will stay here as long as you like,' he said, in a
low, gentle voice; 'as long as it is convenient and agreeable to you.'

'We cannot stay here without you,' Emily replied; 'we are your guests.'

'And,' said Julia, smiling, 'if there are guests, there must be a host. But
if you have business in London, of course you must go.'

'I was not thinking of myself,' said Hubert, 'but of you ladies. I was
afraid that you were already tired of me; that you might like to be left
alone; that you had business, preparations. I daresay I was all wrong; but
if Emily knew----'

'I'm sorry, Hubert; I did not mean to offend you. I'm very unlucky. You'll
forgive me.'

'I've nothing to forgive; I only hope that you'll never think again that I
want to get rid of you. I hope that you'll stop at Ashwood as long as ever
it suits you to do so. I don't see how I can say more.'

'I like to stop here as long as you are here,' Emily said, in a low voice.
'That is all I meant.'