"Jane, you may put the dinner on the table," said Mrs. Talbot, looking relieved.
Jane followed directions.
"And where is Master Robert, Mrs. Frost—no, I mean Mrs. Talbot?"
"He has gone out for a short time. If he is not back before long, you may save some dinner for him."
"That's queer, his going out just as his mother gets back," thought Jane, but she kept silence.
She looked disapprovingly at the new husband.
"Sure, he looks like a gorilla," she mused. "How could the mistress marry him when her first husband was such a fine handsome man? I mistrusts he and Master Robert won't get along very well together."
James Talbot took the place at the head of the table, and began to carve the fowls. Jane noticed that though he helped his wife first, he reserved the nicest portion of the chicken for himself.
"Sure, he's a selfish beast!" reflected Jane. "If he was a gentleman he wouldn't take all the breast for himself."
She was right. Talbot was selfish and had always been so. Some men can conceal this trait. He did not try to do so. He did not trouble himself about criticism, as long as he got what he wanted.