“Oh, I see.” Mrs. Severs was quite radiant. “Talk to Dody about it, will you? He wants to do his duty, but he sees it the other way round.”
“Leave him to me.”
Some time later, Father-in-law himself crept softly up the stairway and tapped on the window.
“Hist,” he whispered. “It’s no good. Andy won’t hear of it. Can’t you think of something?”
“Leave him to me,” she said again. “I am the original little fixer, and I’ll attend to Andrew Dody.”
The next morning, quite willing to sacrifice her last nap in her desire to crush all duty, she started for work half an hour earlier than usual, and invited Mr. Severs to ride down-town with her. And as they started off, Father and Daughter-in-law from separate windows of the house watched their departure, and prayed that success might crown her efforts.
“I want to talk to you confidentially, Mr. Severs,” she said softly. “I—I think you misunderstand some things. I have been with your father such a lot, and I have discovered that he really wants to live alone. He likes to be free to do things when he likes, and how.”
“He can do that in our home, Miss Ainsworth,” Andy said stiffly.
“Of course he can, but he thinks he can’t. He wants to do as Mrs. Severs likes. He is only pretending it is his duty to go, because he thought it would hurt your feelings if you knew he wanted to leave you. He is just crazy about both of you, but he is so used to doing every little thing in his own sweet way. It almost seems your duty fairly to make him go, because he would be happier.”
“I am not one to shirk my duty, Miss Ainsworth. I will sacrifice anything for my father.”