“Who?... Oh, I suppose you mean Millard. He is out, too. He won’t be back for an hour.”
“How do you know he won’t?”
“Because he ought to be back now. Well, Foster, how do you like the prospect of being alone again in that big house of yours? Be a harder pull than ever for you, won’t it?”
“You bet!... But, say,” leaning back in the chair and thrusting his hands into his pockets, “how did you know I was going to be alone? Isn’t there such a thing as privacy in this town?”
“Not much. I should think you would have learned that by this time. There, there! don’t get mad. I don’t believe it is generally known yet. Esther told me herself, but she told me not to tell. She said you asked her not to talk about it much yet.”
“Um-hum. Yes, I did. However, she can talk about it now as much as she wants to. She will be sailing in ten days or so. I only wish I was booked for the same ship.”
Reliance held up the ribbon, measured the latest tuck and then folded another.
“I was a little surprised when she said you wasn’t,” she observed. “The lawsuit is keepin’ you here, she told me.”
“Yes, blast the thing! There, don’t talk about that. I’ve just come from a lawyers’ meeting and I have had enough for the present.... Yes, Esther is going across the water. She’ll stay there, too—until I figure it is good judgment to bring her home.”
Miss Clark looked up, then down. She nodded.