She went, kissing them all good-night and taking her time about it. Everything was suspended while she kissed them and departed, walking slowly backward.
"Married?" said Mrs. Bett with tardy apprehension. "Lulie, was your husband married?"
"Yes," Lulu said, "my husband was married, mother."
"Mercy," said Ina. "Think of anything like that in our family."
"Well, go on—go on!" Dwight cried. "Tell us about it."
Lulu spoke in a monotone, with her old manner of hesitation:
"We were going to Oregon. First down to New Orleans and then out to California and up the coast." On this she paused and sighed. "Well, then at Savannah, Georgia, he said he thought I better know, first. So he told me."
"Yes—well, what did he say?" Dwight demanded irritably.
"Cora Waters," said Lulu. "Cora Waters. She married him down in San Diego, eighteen years ago. She went to South America with him."
"Well, he never let us know of it, if she did," said Dwight.