第20章

Where’sBilly？’hehadaskedabruptly。

Mariesaysshehasn’tseenherfortwoweeks。

Marie’safraidshe’ssick。ShesaysBillydidn’tlookwellabit，whenshedidseeher。’

Calderwellhadcappedtheclimax。Hehadsaid：

GreatScott，Henshaw，wherehaveyoubeenkeepingyourself？Andwhere’syourwife？Notoneofushascaughtmorethanaglimpseofherforweeks。Shehasn’tsungwithus，norplayedforus，norletustakeheranywhereforamonthofSundays。EvenMissGreggorysays_she_hasn’tseenmuchofher，andthatBillyalwayssaysshe’stoobusytogoanywhere。ButMissGreggorysaysshelookspaleandthin，andthat_she_

thinksshe’sworryingtoomuchoverrunningthehouse。Ihopesheisn’tsick!’

Why，no，Billyisn’tsick。Billy’sallright，’

Bertramhadanswered。Hehadspokenlightly，nonchalantly，withanelaborateairofcarelessness；

butafterhehadleftCalderwell，hehadturnedhisstepsabruptlyandalittlehastilytowardhome。

AndhehadnotfoundBilly——atleast，notatonce。Hehadgonefirstdownintothekitchenanddining-room。Herememberedthen，uneasily，thathehadalwayslookedforBillyinthekitchenanddining-room，oflate。To-day，however，shewasnotthere。

OnthekitchentableBertramdidseeabookwideopen，and，mechanically，hepickeditup。

Itwasamuch-thumbedcookbook，anditwasopenwheretwoonce-blankpagesborehiswife’shandwriting。Onthefirstpage，undertheprintedheadingThingstoRemember，’hereadthesesentences：

Thatriceswellstilleverydishinthehouseisfull，andthatspinachshrinkstillyoucan’tfindit。

Thatbeetsboildryifyoulookoutthewindow。

Thatbiscuitswhichlookasifthey’dbeenmixedupwitharustystovepokerhaven’treallybeenso，buthaveonlygottoomuchundissolvedsodainthem。’

Therewereothersentences，butBertram’seyeschancedtofallontheoppositepagewheretheThingstoRemember’hadbeenchangedtoThingstoForget’；andhereBillyhadwrittenjustfourwords：Burns，’cuts，’andyesterday’sfailures。’

Bertramdroppedthebookthenwithaspasmodicclearingofhisthroat，andhurriedlyresumedhissearch。Whenhedidfindhiswife，atlast，hegaveacryofdismay——shewasonherownbed，huddledinalittleheap，andshakingwithsobs。

Billy!Why，Billy!’hegasped，stridingtothebedside。

Billysatupatonce，andhastilywipedhereyes。

Oh，isityou，B-Bertram？Ididn’thearyoucomein。You——yous-saidyouweren’tcomingtillsixo’clock!’shechoked。

Billy，whatisthemeaningofthis？’

N-nothing。I——IguessI’mjusttired。’

Whathaveyoubeendoing？’Bertramspokesternly，almostsharply。Hewaswonderingwhyhehadnotnoticedbeforethelittlehollowsinhiswife’scheeks。Billy，whathaveyoubeendoing？’

Why，n-nothingextra，onlysomesweeping，andcleaningouttherefrigerator。’

Sweeping!Cleaning!_You!_IthoughtMrs。

Durgindidthat。’

Shedoes。Imeanshedid。Butshecouldn’tcome。Shebrokeherleg——felloffthestepladderwhereshewasthreedaysago。SoI_had_todoit。

Andto-day，someway，everythingwentwrong。

Iburnedme，andIcutme，andIusedtwosodaswithnotanycreamoftartar，andIshouldthinkIdidn’tknowanything，notanything!’AnddownwentBilly’sheadintothepillowsagaininanotherburstofsobs。

Withgentleyetuncompromisingdetermination，Bertramgatheredhiswifeintohisarmsandcarriedhertothebigchair。There，forafewminutes，hesoothedandpettedherasifshewereatiredchild——which，indeed，shewas。

Billy，thisthinghasgottostop，’hesaidthen。

Therewasaveryinexorableringofdecisioninhisvoice。

Whatthing？’

Thishouseworkbusiness。’

Billysatupwithajerk。

But，Bertram，itisn’tfair。Youcan’t——youmustn’t——justbecauseofto-day!I_can_doit。

Ihavedoneit。I’vedoneitdaysanddays，andit’sgonebeautifully——eveniftheydidsayI

couldn’t!’

Couldn’twhat？’

Beane-efficienthousekeeper。’

Whosaidyoucouldn’t？’

AuntHannahandK-Kate。’

Bertramsaidasavagewordunderhisbreath。

Holysmoke，Billy!Ididn’tmarryyouforacookorascrub-lady。Ifyou_had_todoit，thatwouldbeanothermatter，ofcourse；andifwedidhavetodoit，wewouldn’thaveabighouselikethisforyoutodoitin。ButIdidn’tmarryforacook，andIknewIwasn’tgettingonewhenI

marriedyou。’

Billybridledintoinstantwrath。

Well，Ilikethat，BertramHenshaw!Can’tIcook？Haven’tIprovedthatIcancook？’

Bertramlaughed，andkissedtheindignantlipstilltheyquiveredintoanunwillingsmile。

Blessyourspunkylittleheart，ofcourseyouhave!Butthatdoesn’tmeanthatIwantyoutodoit。Yousee，itsohappensthatyoucandootherthings，too；andI’dratheryoudidthose。

Billy，youhaven’tplayedtomeforaweek，norsungtomeforamonth。You’retootiredeverynighttotalk，orreadtogether，orgoanywherewithme。Imarriedforcompanionship——notcookingandsweeping!’

Billyshookherheadstubbornly。Hermouthsettledintodeterminedlines。

That’sallverywelltosay。Youaren’thungrynow，Bertram。Butit’sdifferentwhenyouare，andtheysaid’twouldbe。’

Humph!`They’areAuntHannahandKate，Isuppose。’

Yes——andthe`TalktoYoungWives。’’

Thew-what？’

Billychokedalittle。ShehadforgottenthatBertramdidnotknowabouttheTalktoYoungWives。’Shewishedthatshehadnotmentionedthebook，butnowthatshehad，shewouldmakethebestofit。Shedrewherselfupwithdignity。

It’sabook；averynicebook。Itsayslotsofthings——thathavecometrue。’

Whereisthatbook？Letmeseeit，please。’

WithvisiblereluctanceBillygotdownfromherperchonBertram’sknee，wenttoherdeskandbroughtbackthebook。

Bertramregardeditfrowningly，sofrowninglythatBillyhastenedtoitsdefense。

Andit’strue——whatitsaysinthere，andwhatAuntHannahandKatesaid。It_is_differentwhenthey’rehungry!YousaidyourselfifI’dtendtomyhusbandandmyhomealittlemore，and——’

Bertramlookedupwithunfeignedamazement。

Isaidwhat？’hedemanded。

Inavoiceshakenwithemotion，Billyrepeatedthefatefulwords。

Inever——whendidIsaythat？’

ThenightUncleWilliamandIcamehomefrom——Pete’s。’

ForamomentBertramstareddumbly；thenashamedredswepttohisforehead。

Billy，_did_Isaythat？IoughttobeshotifIdid。But，Billy，yousaidyou’dforgivenme!’

Idid，dear——trulyIdid；but，don’tyousee？——

itwastrue。I_hadn’t_tendedtothings。SoI’vebeendoingitsince。’

AsuddencomprehensionilluminatedBertram’sface。

Heavens，Billy!Andisthatwhyyouhaven’tbeenanywhere，ordoneanything？IsthatwhyCalderwellsaidto-daythatyouhadn’tbeenwiththemanywhere，andthat——GreatScott，Billy!

DidyouthinkIwassuchaselfishbruteasthat？’

Oh，butwhenIwasgoingwiththemI_was_

followingthebook——Ithought，’quaveredBilly；

andhurriedlysheturnedtheleavestoacarefullymarkedpassage。It’sthere——abouttheoutsideinterests。See？I_was_tryingtobrushupagainstthem，sothatIwouldn’tinterferewithyourArt。Then，whenyouaccusedmeofgallivantingoffwith——’ButBertramsweptherbackintohisarms，andnotforsomeminutescouldBillymakeacoherentspeechagain。

ThenBertramspoke。

Seehere，Billy，’heexploded，alittleshakily，ifIcouldgetyouoffsomewhereonadesertisland，wherethereweren’tanyAuntHannahsorKates，orTalkstoYoungWives，Ithinkthere’dbeachancetomakeyouhappy；but——’

Oh，buttherewastruthinit，’interruptedBilly，sittingerectagain。I_didn’t_knowhowtorunahouse，anditwasperfectlyawfulwhilewewerehavingallthosedreadfulmaids，oneaftertheother；andnowomanshouldbeawifewhodoesn’tknow——’

Allright，allright，dear，’interruptedBertram，inhisturn。We’llconcedethatpoint，ifyoulike。Butyou_do_knownow。You’vegottheefficienthousewiferacketdownpateventothelastcaloryyourhusbandshouldbefed；andI’llwarrantthereisn’taMaryElleninChristendomwhocanfindaspotofignoranceonyouasbigasapinhead!Sowe’llcallthatsettled。Whatyouneednowisagoodrest；andyou’regoingtohaveit，too。I’mgoingtohavesixMaryEllenshereto-morrowmorning。Six!Doyouhear？Andallyou’vegottodoistogetyourgladdestragstogetherforatriptoEuropewithmenextmonth。

Becausewe’regoing。Ishallgettheticketsto-

morrow，_after_IsendthesixMaryEllenspackinguphere。Nowcome，putonyourbonnet。We’regoingdowntowntodinner。’

BILLYTRIESHERHANDATMANAGING’

BertramdidnotengagesixMaryEllensthenextmorning，norevenone，asithappened；forthatevening，Eliza——whohadnotbeenunawareofconditionsattheStrata——telephonedtosaythathermotherwassomuchbetternowshebelievedshecouldbesparedtocometotheStrataforseveralhourseachday，ifMrs。Henshawwouldliketohaveherbegininthatway。

Billyagreedpromptly，anddeclaredherselfasmorethanwillingtoputupwithsuchanarrangement。Bertram，itistrue，whenheheardoftheplan，rebelled，andassertedthatwhatBillyneededwasarest，anentirerestfromcareandlabor。Infact，whathewantedhertodo，hesaid，wastogallivant——togallivantalldaylong。

Nonsense!’Billyhadlaughed，coloringtothetipsofherears。Besides，asforthework，Bertram，withjustyouandmehere，andwithallmyvastexperiencenow，andElizahereforseveralhourseveryday，it’llbenothingbutplayforthislittletimebeforewegoaway。You’llsee!’

Allright，I’ll_see_，then，’Bertramhadnoddedmeaningly。Butjustmakesurethatit_is_playforyou!’

Iwill，’laughedBilly；andtherethematterhadended。

Elizabeganworkthenextday，andBillydidindeedsoonfindherselfplaying’underBertram’swatchfulinsistence。Sheresumedhermusic，andbroughtoutofexiletheunfinishedsong。WithBertramshetookdrivesandwalks；

andeverytwoorthreedaysshewenttoseeAuntHannahandMarie。Shewaspleasantlybusy，too，withplansforhercomingtrip；anditwasnotlongbeforeeventheremorsefulBertramhadtoadmitthatBillywaslookingandappearingquitelikeheroldself。

AttheAnnexBillyfoundCalderwellandArkwright，oneday。Theygreetedherasifshehadjustreturnedfromafarcountry。

Well，ifyouaren’tthestrangerlady，’beganCalderwell，lookingfranklypleasedtoseeher。

We’dthoughtofadvertisinginthedailypresssomewhatafterthisfashion：`Lost，strayed，orstolen，oneBilly；comrade，goodfriend，andkindcheerer-upoflonelyhearts。Anyinformationthankfullyreceivedbyherbereft，sorrowingfriends。’’

Billyjoinedinthelaughthatgreetedthissally，butArkwrightnoticedthatshetriedtochangethesubjectfromherownaffairstoadiscussionofthenewsongonAliceGreggory’spiano。

Calderwell，however，wasnottobesilenced。

ThelastIheardofthiselusiveBilly，’heresumed，withteasingcheerfulness，shewasrunningdownacertainlostcalorythathadslippedawayfromherhusband’sbreakfast，and——’

Billywheeledsharply。