“But he doesn’t love her now,” I said. “He has given the picture to me because he has put another woman in her place.”
“Well, most of them do,” said Alex.
“What do you mean?”
“Most men marry again. There are two masters at our school, and they’ve married again jolly quick—one of them within a year and a half, and the other even in a shorter time. All the fellows were talking about it. It was mighty unfortunate, I can tell you, for we had to subscribe to give them both wedding presents, otherwise we wouldn’t have noticed. They were widowers, and they had no right to do it. It was beastly hard on the boys; that’s what I think.”
“What do you mean?”
“The wedding presents, I mean.”
“Oh Alex! that is a very trivial part of the matter.”
“I expect they’ll collect something jolly for father.”
“Well, we needn’t subscribe,” I said.
“Of course not; that’s the best of it.”