“Mother, you’re not encouraging that man, I hope?”
“No, Connie, my dear, I assure you I’m not. I think that the difference in our ages is really too great.”
“Oh, mother! I meant for Judy, of course.”
“Ah! But before I answer that, let me tell you of something Eric and I thought of a few days ago. Something to do with you.”
Before Connie had left her, an hour later, she had agreed to give up her rooms at the hotel as soon as Noel went to Germany, and go and keep house for Eric.
She had been wondering how she was going to bear her life after Noel left, she said.
“If Eric really wants me, of course I’ll go. I’m not a very good housekeeper, I’m afraid. I’m so out of practice.”
“It will be a change for him,” Madame Claire told her. “Louise is rather too good. She fusses. And besides, Eric won’t be difficult. He has very simple tastes.”
“I think,” said Connie, “that from what I’ve heard, I shall be a better hostess than his wife has been.”
“I’m convinced of it,” answered Madame Claire.