"So have I." Catherine stood immobile in the doorway. "A very important one. Those men from the West are here. At ten. I am to present the work I've been doing."
"Can't Flora keep an eye on Letty till Henry comes?"
"I think one of us ought to be here."
"Good Lord, Catherine! I have to meet the committee on choice of dissertation subjects. Do you want me to telephone them that I have to stay home with the baby?"
"You couldn't stay just an hour?"
"Be reasonable, Catherine. I can't make myself ridiculous."
"No?" Catherine stared at him an instant. Then she turned and left him.
He followed her into the living room, where she stood at the window.
"Call up your mother," he suggested. "She can probably drop in."
"Why," said Catherine evenly, "does it make you more ridiculous than me? That dissertation committee meets a dozen times this fall. Letty is your child, isn't she? Don't tell me I'm her mother!"