第30章

Bertram，Iamgoinghome。’

Billy!’

Iam。’

Billy，forheaven’ssakedon’tbeasillygoose!

Theplay’shalfoveralready。We’llsoonbegoing，anyway。’

Billy’slipscametogetherinathinlittledeterminedline。

Bertram，Iamgoinghomenow，please，’shesaid。Youneedn’tcomewithme；Icangoalone。’

Bertramsaidtwowordsunderhisbreathwhichitwasjustaswell，perhaps，thatBilly——andtheneighbors——didnothear；thenhegathereduptheirwrapsand，withBilly，stalkedoutofthetheater。

Athomeeverythingwasfoundtobeabsolutelyasitshouldbe。Bertram，Jr。，waspeacefullysleeping，andDelia，whohadcomeupfromdownstairs，wassewinginthenextroom。

There，yousee，’observedBertram，alittlesourly。

Billydrewalong，contentedsigh。

Yes，Isee；everythingisallright。Butthat’sexactlywhatIwantedtodo，Bertram，youknow——to_seeformyself_，’shefinishedhappily。

AndBertram，lookingatherraptfaceasshehoveredoverthebaby’scrib，calledhimselfabruteandabeasttomind_anything_thatcouldmakeBillylooklikethat。

CHAPTERXXV

SHOULDAULDACQUAINTANCEBEFORGOT’

BertramdidnotaskBillyverysoonagaintogotothetheater。Forsomedays，indeed，hedidnotaskhertodoanything。Then，oneevening，hedidbegforsomemusic。

Billy，youhaven’tplayedtomeorsungtomesinceIcouldremember，’hecomplained。I

wantsomemusic。’

Billygaveamerrylaughandwriggledherfingersexperimentally。

Mercy，Bertram!Idon’tbelieveIcouldplayanote。YouknowI’malloutofpractice。’

Butwhy_don’t_youpractice？’

Why，Bertram，Ican’t。InthefirstplaceI

don’tseemtohaveanytimeexceptwhenBaby’sasleep；andIcan’tplaythen-I’dwakehimup。’

Bertramsighedirritably，rosetohisfeet，andbegantowalkupanddowntheroom。Hecametoapauseatlast，hiseyesbentatrifledisapprovinglyonhiswife。

Billy，dear，_don’t_youwearanythingbutthosewrapperthingsnowadays？’heaskedplaintively。

AgainBillylaughed。Butthistimeatroubledfrownfollowedthelaugh。

Iknow，Bertram，Isupposetheydolookdowdy，sometimes，’sheconfessed；but，yousee，Ihatetowearareallygooddress——Babyrumplesthemupso；andI’musuallyinahurrytogettohimmornings，andthesearesoeasytoslipinto，andsomuchmorecomfortableformetohandlehimin!’

Yes，ofcourse，ofcourse；Isee，’mumbledBertram，listlesslytakinguphiswalkagain。

Billy，afteramoment’ssilence，begantotalkanimatedly。Babyhaddoneawonderfullycunningthingthatmorning，andBillyhadnothadachanceyettotellBertram。Babywasgrowingmoreandmorecunninganyway，thesedays，andtherewereseveralthingsshebelievedshehadnottoldhim；soshetoldthemnow。

Bertramlistenedpolitely，interestedly。Hetoldhimselfthathe_was_interested，too。Ofcoursehewasinterestedinthedoingsofhisownchild!Buthestillwalkedupanddowntheroomalittlerestlessly，comingtoahaltatlastbythewindow，acrosswhichtheshadehadnotbeendrawn。

Billy，’hecriedsuddenly，withhisoldboyisheagerness，there’sagloriousmoon。Comeon!Let’stakealittlewalk——arealfellow-and-

his-best-girlwalk!Willyou？’

Mercy!dear，Icouldn’t，’criedBillyspringingtoherfeet。I’dloveto，though，ifIcould，’

sheaddedhastily，asshesawdisappointmentcloudherhusband’sface。ButItoldDeliashemightgoout。Itisn’therregularevening，ofcourse，butItoldherIdidn’tmindstayingwithBabyabit。SoI’llhavetogorightupnow。

She’llbegoingsoon。But，dear，yougoandtakeyourwalk。It’lldoyougood。Thenyoucancomebackandtellmeallaboutit——onlyyoum

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