Matthew's heart sank.
"I can't go till this evening."
"You could if you only thought so," said Millie. Then she ran back to the house.
Matthew's dinner was poor and the final touches were put upon it by himself. He asked Millie to describe Ellen's going and she did so sullenly. He looked at the address which Ellen had left and felt more at ease. He would write to her and tell her that he was sorry she was offended, and he was sure that she would return. He remembered with some small remorse but with a deeper pleasure her distress at separation from him.
In the evening he drove to the Königs and brought back his sister-in-law, who accepted his invitation with alacrity. Esther was a short, broad young woman who divided her time between periods of cyclonic activity and equally intensive idleness. She had had a busy summer and had long desired to visit Millie. Her mother had described Ellen's housekeeping admiringly and Esther anticipated a season of refreshing leisure. Of course she would help when it was necessary, but there would be no dreary and compulsory round of cooking and dish-washing. Matthew's invitation indicated that he had got over the haughty feelings of superiority which she had ascribed to him. In short, Esther was in capital good humor.
She had not been in the Levis kitchen a minute when she observed that Ellen's housekeeping was not of the character which she had expected. The dinner dishes waited in the sink and the soiled clothes which should have been washed and dried and folded down for ironing were still untouched in a basket under the table.
"Why, where's your maid?" she asked jokingly.
"She's gone away," answered Millie excitedly. "She—"
"She's visiting Mrs. Sassaman, at 34 Hill Street in Harrisburg," explained Matthew carefully. "There Mrs. Sassaman lives with a sister."