"I must go back," said his mother, uneasily. "Emmie may wake and want—" She seemed oddly nervous. "Pity Emmie should choose this particular time for one of her colds."
"Yes, poor child! she's missing all the festivity."
"Festivity!" echoed his mother. "Hump! Anyhow, it leaves those two young people a great deal alone."
John Gano blinked.
"Ethan and Val?" he said, absent-mindedly.
His mother nodded.
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. He might be left to less entertaining people than Val."
"Precisely."
They looked at each other in silence for a moment.
"You don't mean—Val? Why, she's a child."