“That’s very foolish,” Mills murmured with a slight frown. He thought she was about to attack Leila and he had no intention of listening to criticism of Leila. Alice had made a mess of Leila’s education and he was not interested in anything she might have to say about her. And Alice was richly endowed with that heaven-given wisdom as to the rearing of children which is peculiar to the childless. Mills wished greatly that Alice would go.
“The matter’s delicate—very delicate, Frank. I hesitate——”
“Please, Alice!” he interrupted impatiently. “Either you’ve got something to say or you haven’t!”
At the moment she was not his sister, but a woman who had precipitated herself into a law suit by giving an option on a valuable piece of property and then selling it to a third party, which was stupid and he hated stupidity. He thought she was probably going to say that Leila drank too much, but knowing that Leila had been a pattern of sobriety for months he was prepared to rebuke her sharply for bringing him stale gossip.
“It’s about Shep—Shep and Connie!” said Mrs. Thornberry. “You know how fond I’ve always been of Shep.”
“Yes—yes,” Mills replied, mystified by this opening. “Shep’s doing well and I can’t see but he and Connie are getting on finely. He’s quite surprised me by the way he’s taken hold in the trust company.”
“Oh, Shep’s a dear. But—there’s talk——”
“Oh, yes; there’s talk!” Mills caught her up. “There’s always talk about everyone. I even suppose you and I don’t escape!”
“Well, of course there have been rumors, you know, Frank, that you are considering marrying again.”
“Oh, they’re trying to marry me, are they?” he demanded, in a tone that did not wholly discourage her further confidences.