she wasn't disturbed; but, of course, now that YOU, her HUSBAND, have
come, if"--
"Not for worlds," interrupted Barker earnestly. "I know poor Kitty's
headaches, and I never disturb her, poor child, except when I'm
thoughtless." And here one of the most thoughtful men in the world in
his sensitive consideration of others beamed at her with such frank
and wonderful eyes that the arch hypocrite before him with difficulty
suppressed a hysterical desire to laugh, and felt the conscious blood
flush her to the root of her hair. "You know," he went on, with a sigh,
half of relief and half of reminiscence, "that I often think I'm a great
bother to a clear-headed, sensible girl like Kitty. She knows people so
much better than I do. She's wonderfully equipped for the world, and,
you see, I'm only 'lucky,' as everybody says, and I dare say part of
my luck was to have got her. I'm very glad she's a friend of yours, you
know, for somehow I fancied always that you were not interested in her,
or that you didn't understand each other until now. It's odd that nice
women don't always like nice women, isn't it? I'm glad she was with you;
I was quite startled to learn she was here, and couldn't make it out. I
thought at first she might have got anxious about our little Sta, who
is with me and the nurse at Hymettus. But I'm glad it was only a lark. I
shouldn't wonder," he added, with a laugh, "although she always declares
she isn't one of those 'doting, idiotic mothers,' that she found it a
little dull without the boy, for all she thought it was better for ME to
take him somewhere for a change of air."
The situation was becoming more difficult for Mrs. Horncastle than she
had conceived. There had been a certain excitement in its first direct
appeal to her tact and courage, and even, she believed, an unselfish
desire to save the relations between husband and wife if she could. But
she had not calculated upon his unconscious revelations, nor upon their
effect upon herself. She had concluded to believe that Kitty had, in a
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