enced housemaid a faithful history of Mr.
Brumley's earlier period. "'Appy we all was," said Mrs. Rabbit, "as
Birds in a Nest."

Through the windows two of the Putney gardeners were busy replacing Mr.
Brumley's doubtful roses by recognized sorts, the _right_ sorts....

"I've been doing all I can to make it ready for you," said Sir Isaac at
his wife's ear, bringing a curious reminiscence of the first home-coming
to Putney into her mind.

Sec.4

"And now," said Sir Isaac with evident premeditation and a certain
deliberate amiability, "now we got down here, now we got away a bit from
all those London things with nobody to cut in between us, me and you can
have a bit of a talk, Elly, and see what it's all about."

They had lunched together in the little hall-dining room,--the children
had had a noisily cheerful picnic in the kitchen with Mrs. Harblow, and
now Lady Harman was standing at the window surveying the ravages of rose
replacement.

She turned towards him. "Yes," she said. "I think--I think we can't go
on like this."

"_I_ can't," said Sir Isaac, "anyhow."

He too came and stared at the rose planting.

"If we were to go up there--among the pine woods"--he pointed with his
head at the dark background of Euphemia's herbaceous borders--"we
shouldn't hear quite so much of this hammering...."

Husband and wife walked slowly in the afternoon sunlight across the
still beautiful garden. Each was gravely aware of an embarrassed
incapacity for the task they had set themselves. They were going to talk
things over. Never in their lives had they really talked to each other
clearly and honestly about anything. Indeed it is scarcely too much to
say that neither had ever talked about anything to anyone. She was too
young, her mind was now growing up in her and feeling its way to
conscious expression, and he had never before wanted to express himself.
He did now want to express himself. For behind his rant and fury Sir
Isaac had been thinking very hard indeed during the last three weeks
about his life and her life and their relations; he had never thought so
much about anything except his business economics. So far he had either
joked at her, talked "silly" to her, made, as they say, "remarks," or
vociferated. That had been the sum of their mental intercourse, as
indeed it is the sum of the intercourse of most married couples. His
attempt to state his case to her had so far always flared into
rhetorical outbreaks. But