“A very nice woman, I think you'll like her. She is devoted to me. We've been together now two years or more, I can't say exactly, I should have to refer to my diary.”
“But the child?”
“The child isn't mine. She had the child before I knew her.”
“And what is the matter with it?”
“Curvature of the spine. The doctor says she will outgrow it. Cissy will be quite strong and healthy although she may never have what you would call a good figure. But there is a matter on which I want to speak to you. The fact is, I am going to be married.”
“To whom?”
“To the lady whom you will see at lunch, Cissy's mother.”
Frank said: “If you really love her I have nothing to say against it.” Willy did not answer. Frank waited for an answer and then broke the silence: “But do you love her?”
“Yes, I am very fond of her; she is a very good sort.”
Frank was implacable. “Do you love her like the other one?” The question wounded, but Frank was absorbed in his own special sentimentalities.