‘Well, Baby,’ he said, ‘are you glad that Dadda is not going to the War?’
‘Dadda dee-ar,’ Eleanor repeated; she laughed and grabbed at his glasses.
Walter put her down again and she began to scream.
Walter put his hands to his head and stood up.
‘Do make her be quiet, Helen,’ he said. ‘I can’t stand the noise.’
I tried to quiet Eleanor, but she went on crying. Walter made for the door, distractedly, and went out.
When at last I had pacified Eleanor, I sat down again in my chair and tried to think; but I could not. It seemed to me then, that I was too tired even to realize my own relief. I felt numb and stupid.
Then Eleanor stumbled over a footstool, and fell, and again she began to scream. I looked at the clock on the chimney-piece; it was bedtime, past bedtime. I picked Eleanor up, but she was angry; she kicked me, and went quite stiff. I struggled with her and carried her off to bed.
XIV
Walter got work at the Admiralty. He deciphered telegrams. He went there immediately after breakfast, and did not come home till eight or half-past eight. He made a point of arriving sooner than the other people in his room, and of leaving after they did. He was paid much less than his University salary, and that he would not take.