“He is our father reproduced,” she said.
“That disposes of my theory. Then you must be the changeling. Plainly, Miss Simpson ought to have been his sister.”
“She would prefer to stand in a closer relationship,” Mrs Sommers said.
“Yes; that’s obvious. But she hasn’t the ghost of a chance. She is an old maid.”
“She would scarcely be eligible for the position if she were not an old maid,” Mrs Sommers pointed out.
“She would be eligible as an unmarried woman,” Mrs Chadwick argued. “There is a distinction. An unmarried woman is not of necessity an old maid.”
Belle allowed this. It was, indeed, irrefutable.
“I see,” she said. “Yes... just as my brother is a confirmed bachelor.”
Mrs Chadwick smiled into the flames.
“I wouldn’t be so positive on that head,” she replied. “You should visit the schools with him, as I did to-day. I think it might shake your opinion. A man who is a confirmed bachelor has not the paternal instinct. He ought to have married ten years ago, in which event he would not now make the tea, and fuss about draughts. I think, you have been neglectful of your duty to him. Before you married you should have found him a wife.”