"The most that we can do is to hope for the best till we know the worst. Of course we shall make the best of the worst when it comes."
"Yes, and perhaps it would not be so very bad. I was saying to your father when I was here in July that those things can always be managed. You must face them as if they were nothing out of the way, and try not to give any cause for bitterness among ourselves."
"That's true. But I don't believe in too much resignation beforehand. It amounts to concession," said Nanny.
"Of course we should oppose it in all proper ways," returned her mother.
Lily had ceased to discuss the matter. In virtue of her artistic temperament, she was expected not to be very practical. It was her mother and her sister who managed, submitting to the advice and consent of Corey what they intended to do.
"Your father wrote me that he had called on Colonel Lapham at his place of business," said Mrs. Corey, seizing her first chance of approaching the subject with her son.
"Yes," said Corey. "A dinner was father's idea, but he came down to a call, at my suggestion."
"Oh," said Mrs. Corey, in a tone of relief, as if the statement threw a new light on the fact that Corey had suggested the visit. "He said so little about it in his letter that I didn't know just how it came about."
"I thought it was right they should meet," explained the son, "and so did father. I was glad that I suggested it, afterward; it was extremely gratifying to Colonel Lapham."
"Oh, it was quite right in every way. I suppose you have seen something of the family during the summer."