‘Yes, there’s hope once more, my dearest. No more gloomy talk to-night! I have read you something, now you shall read something to me; it is a long time since I delighted myself with listening to you. What shall it be?’
‘I feel rather too tired to-night.’
‘Do you?’
‘I have had to look after Willie so much. But read me some more Homer; I shall be very glad to listen.’
Reardon reached for the book again, but not readily. His face showed disappointment. Their evenings together had never been the same since the birth of the child; Willie was always an excuse—valid enough—for Amy’s feeling tired. The little boy had come between him and the mother, as must always be the case in poor homes, most of all where the poverty is relative. Reardon could not pass the subject without a remark, but he tried to speak humorously.
‘There ought to be a huge public creche in London. It’s monstrous that an educated mother should have to be nursemaid.’
‘But you know very well I think nothing of that. A creche, indeed! No child of mine should go to any such place.’
There it was. She grudged no trouble on behalf of the child. That was love; whereas—But then maternal love was a mere matter of course.
‘As soon as you get two or three hundred pounds for a book,’ she added, laughing, ‘there’ll be no need for me to give so much time.’
‘Two or three hundred pounds!’ He repeated it with a shake of the head. ‘Ah, if that were possible!’