The bell rang again.
"That's Henry!" Catherine hurried to the door, and opened it to Stella Partridge's little squirrel smile and extended hand.
"Good evening, Mrs. Hammond. I told Dr. Hammond I'd let him have this outline when it was finished."
"Won't you come in, Miss Partridge?" Catherine heard Charles coming. He lounged beside her, hands in pockets.
"No, thank you. I just brought this outline, Dr. Hammond." She handed him the envelope.
There was a moment of silence, in which Catherine felt a tugging at her will, as if Charles tried to bend her to some thought of his. She glanced at him, still sulky.
"I have it," she said. "Why don't you take Miss Partridge to your show, Charles? If she would like it. Have you seen 'Liliom,' Miss Partridge?"
"Letty is indisposed," said Charles, "thus interfering, after the fashion of children, with her parents' plans."
"Can't I stay with her?" Miss Partridge opened her dark eyes very wide.