to
the room which he had set apart for their room.
"Does it suit you, wife of mine?" he asked.
With the joy of it all, her eyes filled.
"It's even more beautiful than I thought it would be," she trembled.
For him the house had changed the moment she stepped into it. With
his father alive, it had been his father's home rather than his;
with his father gone, it had been scarcely more than a convenient
resting-place. There had been moments--when he thought of Frances
here--that it had taken on more significance, but even this had
been due to Sally. When he thought he was making the house ready
for another, it had been her dear hand who had guided him. How
vividly now he recalled that dinner at the little French restaurant
when he had described his home to her--the home which was now her
home too. It was at that moment she had first made her personality
felt here.
Sally removed her hat and tidied her hair before the mirror in quite
as matter-of-fact a fashion as though she had been living here ever
since that day instead of only the matter of a few minutes. When she
came downstairs, Nora herself seemed to accept her on that basis. To
her suggestions, she replied, "Yes, Mrs. Pendleton," as glibly as
though she had been saying it all her life.
They returned on a Saturday. On Monday Don was to go back to the
office. Sally had sent in her resignation the day of her marriage and
had received nice letters from both Carter and Farnsworth, with a
check enclosed from the former for fifty dollars and from the latter
for twenty-five dollars.
"What I'll have to do," said Don, as he retired Sunday night, "is to
get a larger alarm-clock. It won't do to be late any more."
"You're right," agreed Sally. "But you won't need an alarm-clock."
"Eh?"
"You wait and see."
Sally was awake at six the next morning and Don himself less than one
minute after.
"Time to get up," she called.
"I'm sleepy," murmured Don.
"Then to-morrow night you'll get to bed one hour earlier. But--up with
you."
"Right-o," he answered as he sprang from bed. "But there's no need of
your getting up."
"I'd be ashamed of myself if I didn't."
She had breakfast with him that first work morning as she planned to
do every morning of her life after that.
"Now, Don," she warned as he was ready to leave, "mind you don't say
anything about a raise in salary for a little while yet. I know
Farnsworth, and he'll give it to you the moment he fee
|