feelin's," she declared, "I'd
have given him one talkin' to. The idea of his speakin' as if Frances
wouldn't be a wife anybody, a lord or anybody else, might be proud of!
But he didn't know. He's been brought up that way, and he doesn't know.
And, of course, his son IS the only person on earth to him. Well, that's
over! We haven't got to worry about them any more. We'll begin to live
for each other now, Hosy, same as we used to do. And we'll wait for the
rest. It'll come and come right for all of us. Just you see."

CHAPTER XIV

In Which I Play Golf and Cross the Channel

And so we began "to live for each other again," Hephzy and I. This
meant, of course, that Hephzy forgot herself entirely and spent the
greater part of her time trying to find ways to make my living more
comfortable, just as she had always done. And I--well, I did my best to
appear, if not happy, at least reasonably calm and companionable. It was
a hard job for both of us; certainly my part of it was hard enough.

Appearances had to be considered and so we invented a tale of a visit
to relatives in another part of England to account for the unannounced
departure of Miss Morley. This excuse served with the neighbors and
friends not in the secret and, for the benefit of the servants, Hephzy
elaborated the deceit by pretending eagerness at the arrival of the
mails and by certain vague remarks at table concerning letters she was
writing.

"I AM writing 'em, too, Hosy," she said. "I write to her every few days.
Of course I don't mail the letters, but it sort of squares things with
my conscience to really write after talking so much about it. As for her
visitin' relatives--well, she's got relatives somewhere in England, we
know that much, and she MAY be visitin' 'em. At any rate I try to think
she is. Oh, dear, I 'most wish I'd had more experience in tellin' lies;
then I wouldn't have to invent so many extra ones to make me believe
those I told at the beginnin'. I wish I'd been brought up a book agent
or a weather prophet or somethin' like that; then I'd have been in
trainin'."

Without any definite agreement we had fallen into the habit of not
mentioning the name of Little Frank, even when we were alone together.
In consequence, on these occasions, there would be long intervals
of silence suddenly broken by Hephzy's bursting out with a surmise
concerning what was happening in Bayport, whether they had painted the
public library building yet, or