Ralph had caused some trouble. Indulgence had made him exacting, and fancying that he would not be parted from Kathleen again, he gave way to alternate fits of weeping and passion. It needed his father's firmness and Kathleen's persuasions to subdue the boy, and after their departure he refused to be comforted.
Mrs. Ellicott and Geraldine were to take up their abode at Monk's How, just before the return of the newly-married pair. Ralph was to remain at the Hall with them, but Aylmer found it necessary to relieve them of their charge, and in his hands the boy was more manageable.
Kathleen and her husband returned to the Hall before the appointed date, but not to remain there.
Mr. Torrance—"the captain" had been sunk by request—suggested that the rest of the season should be spent in town. He wished his beautiful wife to have some enjoyment before settling down at Hollingsby.
"It is your due, Kitty," he said. "I owe you everything, and it would be a shame to bury you in the country, now you have a husband to act as guide and protector. We can take a furnished house, of which I heard to-day, for five weeks or so, and after that have a rest in the country. We have neither of us had much in the way of decent society for a long time past."
Kathleen would have preferred going home, but she was overruled, not by any assumption of mastery on her husband's part, but by flattering words and tender suggestions which, loving him devotedly as she did, she was unable to withstand.
So the house was taken, and Ralph was again left behind, but with the promise that he should spend part of the time in London with his parents.
Kathleen found that her wardrobe must be enlarged. She had not cared for a costly trousseau, preferring to purchase extra dresses as occasion required, and she was not anxious to spend a large sum on such as would be comparatively useless to her in the country.
"Besides, John, I hate extravagance, though I think you have always seen me fairly well dressed," she said.
"You are always charmingly dressed, Kitty, for the country, but one may be pardoned for wishing that one's wife should be seen to the best advantage during a few weeks in town, at the close of the honeymoon. If you were less beautiful, my darling, it would be different. We will only be extravagant for this once;" and he closed her lips with a kiss.