“I was almost dreaming. Sue is a pretty name, so is Gerald; but I would not like my boy to be named Gerald. Theodore means the gift of God; I like that; Theodore or Theodora. If you ever name a child, will you remember that?”
“I shall never name a child; I don’t like children well enough to fuss over them. Now, what else?”
“‘Jerusalem the golden.’”
“Oh, you don’t want that! It’s too solemn. I won’t sing it, I’ll sing something livelier. Don’t you like ‘Who are these in bright array?’”
The eyelids drooped, he did not loosen his clasp, and she sang on; once, when she paused, he whispered, “Go on.”
The snow fell softly, melting on the window-sill, the wood fire burnt low, she drew her hand away and went to the stove to put in a stick of wood; he did not stir, his hands were still half-clasped; through the half-shut lids, his eyes shone dim and dark. She was very weary; she laid her head on the white counterpane near his hands and fell asleep. Dr. Greyson entered, stood a moment near the door and went out; Dr. Towne came to the threshold, his eyes filled as he stood, he closed the door and went down-stairs; he opened the front parlor door, thinking of the two as they stood there together such a little time since, and thinking of Tessa’s face as he saw it that morning. “She will love him always if he leaves her now,” he said to himself; “when she is old, she will look back and grieve for him. Tessa would, but Sue—there’s no reckoning upon her. Why are not all women like Tessa and my mother?”
He drove homeward, thinking many thoughts; of late, in the light of Tessa’s words, he could behold himself as she beheld him; she would have been satisfied, could she have known the depth of his self-accusation; “No man but a fool could be such a fool,” he had said to himself more than once. “There is no chance that she will take me.”
Meanwhile Sue awoke from her heavy sleep; it was growing colder, the snow was falling and not melting, the room was quite dark.
“I have been asleep,” said Dr. Lake.
“And now you are better,” cried Sue, joyfully. “I knew that you were moping and had the blues.”