e married Sabina. I suppose you're not properly his father if you
don't marry her?"
"That's nonsense, Estelle. I'm quite properly his father, and I'm going
to be a jolly good father too. But I don't want to be married. I don't
believe in it."
"If Sabina knew you were going to love him and be good to him, she would
be happier, I hope."
"I'm going to see her presently," he said.
"And see the baby?"
"Plenty of time for that."
"There's time, of course, Ray. But he's changing. He's five weeks old
to-morrow, and I can see great changes. He can just begin to laugh now.
Things amuse him we don't know. I expect babies are like dogs and can
see what we can't."
"I'll look at him if Sabina likes."
"Of course she'll like. It's rather horrid of you, in a way, being able
to go on with your work for so many weeks without looking at him. It's
really rather a slight on Sabina, Ray. If I'd had a baby, and his father
wouldn't look at him for week after week, I should be vexed. And so is
Sabina."
"Next time you see her, ask her to name a day and I'll go whenever she
likes."
Estelle was delighted.
"That's lovely of you and it will cheer her up very much, for certain,"
she answered. Then she ran away, for to arrange such a meeting seemed
the most desirable thing in the world to her at that moment. To Sabina
she went as fast as her legs could take her, and appreciating that he
had sent this guileless messenger to ensure a meeting without
preliminaries and without prejudice, Sabina hid her feelings and
specified a time on the following day.
"If he'll come to see me to-morrow in the dinner-hour, that will be
best. I'll be alone after twelve o'clock."
"You'll show him the baby, won't you, Sabina?"
"He won't want to see it."
"Why not?"
"Does he want to?"
"Honestly he doesn't seem to understand how wonderful the baby is,"
explained the child. "Ray's going to be a splendid father to him,
Sabina. He's quite interested; only men are different from us. Perhaps
they never feel much interest till babies can talk to them. My father
says he wasn't much interested in me till I could talk, so it may be a
general thing. But when Ray sees him, he'll be tremendously proud of
him."
Sabina said no more, and when Raymond arrived to see her at the time she
appointed, he found her waiting near the entrance of 'The Magnolias.'
She wore a black dress and was looking very well and very handsome. But
the expression in her e
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