“How can you speak so, Grace! What would become of the home and the family if such ideas prevailed? That woman’s positively opposed to marriage.”
“Oh, I don’t believe it’s as bad as that! I think it’s more her idea that where marriages are unhappy it’s cruel to make people live together. But, you needn’t be afraid that Mr. Trenton’s trying to convert me to his wife’s notions. I don’t believe he is terribly tickled to have her gallivanting over the country lecturing.”
“You can’t be too careful, you know, Grace, about letting a married man pay you attentions. People are bound to talk. And Mrs. Trenton, being known for her loose ideas on marriage, naturally causes people to look twice at her husband.”
“And at any woman her husband pays attention to,” Ethel added.
“Of course I’m careful what I do,” replied Grace. “Mr. Trenton is a perfect gentleman in every way and just as kind and considerate as can be. He gave me two of the pleasantest evenings I ever spent. You certainly can’t object to my knowing a man like that.”
“No, dear,” replied Mrs. Durland, “except that it seems strange for a daughter of mine to be meeting a married man and having dinner with him and going to the theatre when I don’t know him at all.”
Durland had lingered, pretending to be looking for something in the paper but really prepared to support Grace in the event that his wife and Ethel showed a disposition to carry their criticisms further.
“I suppose we have to put up with such things,” said Ethel, “but that doesn’t make them right. I hope, Grace, you won’t let your independence carry you too far.”
“Well, Mr. Trenton has passed on and I don’t know when he’ll turn up here again, so you needn’t worry.”
“It’s fine you can know a man like Trenton,” Durland ventured from the hall door.