at you would be
hurt if I did _not_ ask it."

Gerald's answer came with the name of a steamer written on the envelope
to insure promptness. Sophy cried when she read that letter.

"Dear Sophy," he wrote, "I am more touched than I can express by your
confidence in me. I beg you not to give another thought to the matter.
All shall be just as before your present marriage. I only hope that you
will resume Cecil's name again when you are at liberty to do so. As
Bobby's mother, it seems to me that it would be more fitting. I am very
happy to think of your being in England again. Don't make it too long,
and don't think, 'There's that poor, hipped old rotter Gerald, mooning
about himself--but sometimes I have a beastly feeling that I mayn't see
you again. And as you know, I'm rather fond of you, old girl. Love to
the little chap. G."

One thing in his letter, however, seemed odd to them all. It was his
suggestion that she should take Chesney's name again, after her divorce.
About this, on the Judge's advice, she did write to Mr. Surtees. She
herself, as Bobby's mother, would have much preferred to be called Mrs.
Chesney. She did not wish to go on calling herself "Mrs. Morris Loring."
She felt very sure that within a short time after the divorce there
would be another "Mrs. Morris Loring." She awaited Mr. Surtees's reply
with some anxiety. It was quite satisfactory. He expressed himself as of
the opinion that it would be "quite natural, fitting, and possible for
Mrs. Loring to resume the name of her first husband." He quoted the case
of Cowley v. Cowley, decided in the House of Lords in 1901: "Lady Violet
Neville, after becoming Countess Cowley, obtained a divorce from her
husband on the ground of his misconduct. She then married a commoner, a
Mr. Biddulph, but nevertheless continued to call herself Countess
Cowley. The Earl brought proceedings to restrain her from using the
name, but the House of Lords, on appeal, refused to grant an injunction.
Lord Macnaughton, in giving judgment, said: 'Everybody knows that it is
a very common practice for peeresses (not being peeresses in their own
right) after marrying Commoners to retain the title lost by such
marriage. It is not a matter of right. It is merely a matter of
courtesy, and allowed by the usages of society.'"

And all this time (it was nearly October) never a word came from Loring.
Sophy corresponded with his mother, who knew nothing of the strained
relations between them