"You're a good sort, after all." They sat down at a table.

Freddie stood between them, a hand on the shoulder of each.

Very seriously he was saying: "I say, gentlemen, we can't abandon a woman at a time like this.

We must stand together.

All true sports and black sheep _should_ stand together, don't you know." It is possible that Odell-Carney appreciated the subtlety of this compliment.