“But I don’t want to wait until then, dearest.”
“But ‘Frederick’ is so long, and ‘Fred’ is so short, and ‘Ricky’ sounds like a highball.” She had thrown off her depression and was sparkling.
“Nobody calls me ‘Ricky’ but Adelaide. I always hated it.”
“Did you?” She was demure. “I might say ‘my love,’ like the ladies in the old-fashioned novels.”
He laughed delightedly. “Say it.”
She acquiesced unexpectedly. “My love, we are invited to a week-end with the Delafield Simms, at their new country place, Grass Hills.”
“Are we?” Then in a sudden ardent rush of words, “Jane, I’d kiss you if the world wasn’t looking on.”
“The reporters would be ecstatic. Headlines.”
“I am tired of headlines. And what do you mean about going to Delafield Simms?”
“They are asking a lot of his friends. It is his wife’s introduction to his old crowd. Much will depend on whether you and Edith will accept. And it was Edith who asked me to—make you come——”