She talked persistently about free love, which Andrew didn’t like. When spoken of as the relation of the sexes, it was quite proper and scientific; but directly one introduced that idea of love, it was entirely changed. It became sensational and distinctly alarming.
He was thankful when an accident occurred in the dining-room which could not be ignored. Little Frank had climbed into a drawer of the sideboard and broken through, and in the course of his struggles he upset everything within reach.
Once he had got Miss Franklin out, Andrew took good care that she should not get in again.
V
He had forgotten all about Mavis, and he was pleasantly surprised when she came into his office the next afternoon.
“I pretended that I had a sore throat,” she said, “so I could come and see you. You see, Edward came last night, and oh, doctor, he did seem so awfully flat, after you!”
“You mustn’t be so extreme,” he said. “There are some men who aren’t at all unhappy in marriage.”
“I know. Ordinary little men aren’t. It’s only the wonderful men like you. But, doctor dear, I couldn’t be happy with an ordinary man. I—I want a man like you!”
It wouldn’t do, of course, to tell her that there were mighty few men of this sort, and[Pg 9] that they wouldn’t care for naive little girls, anyway. Andrew wasn’t even much flattered by her admiration; it was too indiscriminate.
“Suppose you don’t marry,” he said. “What will you do?”