alliance.
The thing which prevented an eventual resumption of relationship in
some form with Jennie was the constant presence of Mrs. Gerald.
Circumstances conspired to make her the logical solution of his mental
quandary at this time. Alone he could do nothing save to make visits here and there, and he did not care to do that. He was too indifferent mentally to gather about him as a bachelor that atmosphere which he enjoyed and
which a woman like Mrs. Gerald could so readily provide. United with
her it was simple enough. Their home then, wherever it was, would be
full of clever people. He would need to do little save to appear and enjoy it. She understood quite as well as any one how he liked to live. She
enjoyed to meet the people he enjoyed meeting. There were so many
things they could do together nicely. He visited West Baden at the same
time she did, as she suggested. He gave himself over to her in Chicago for dinners, parties, drives. Her house was quite as much his own as hers—
she made him feel so. She talked to him about her affairs, showing him
exactly how they stood and why she wished him to intervene in this and
that matter. She did not wish him to be much alone. She did not want him
to think or regret. She came to represent to him comfort, forgetfulness,
rest from care. With the others he visited at her house occasionally, and it gradually became rumoured about that he would marry her. Because of
the fact that there had been so much discussion of his previous
relationship, Letty decided that if ever this occurred it should be a quiet affair. She wanted a simple explanation in the papers of how it had come
about, and then afterwards, when things were normal again and gossip
had subsided, she would enter on a dazzling social display for his sake.
"Why not let us get married in April and go abroad for the summer?" she asked once, after they had reached a silent understanding that marriage
would eventually follow. "Let's go to Japan. Then we can come back in the fall, and take a house on the Drive."
Lester had been away from Jennie so long now that the first severe wave
of self-reproach had passed. He was still doubtful, but he preferred to
stifle his misgivings. "Very well," he replied, almost jokingly. "Only don't let there be any fuss about it."
"Do you really mean that, sweet?" she exclaimed, looking over at him; they had been spending the evening together quietly reading and chatting.
"I've thought about it a long while," he replied. "I don't see why not."
She came over to him and sat on his knee, putting her arms upon his
shoulders.
"I can scarcely believe you said that," she said, looking at him curiously.
"Shall I take it back?" he asked.
"No, no. It's agreed for April now. And we'll go to Japan. You can't change your mind. There won't be any fuss. But my, what a trousseau I
will prepare!"
He smiled a little constrainedly as she tousled his head; there was a
missing note somewhere in this gamut of happiness; perhaps it was
because he was getting old.
CHAPTER LVII
In the meantime Jennie was going her way, settling herself in the
markedly different world in which henceforth she was to move. It seemed
a terrible thing at first—this life without Lester. Despite her own strong individuality, her ways had become so involved with his that there
seemed to be no possibility of disentangling them. Constantly she was
with him in thought and action, just as though they had never separated.
Where was he now? What was he doing? What was he saying? How was
he looking? In the mornings when she woke it was with the sense that he
must be beside her. At night as if she could not go to bed alone. He would come after a while surely—ah, no, of course he would not come. Dear
heaven, think of that! Never any more. And she wanted him so.
Again there were so many little trying things to adjust, for a change of
this nature is too radical to be passed over lightly. The explanation she had to make to Vesta was of all the most important. This little girl, who was old enough now to see and think for herself, was not without her
surmises and misgivings. Vesta recalled that her mother had been accused
of not being married to her father when she was born. She had seen the
article about Jennie and Lester in the Sunday paper at the time it had
appeared—it had been shown to her at school—but she had had sense
enough to say nothing about it, feeling somehow that Jennie would not
like it. Lester's disappearance was a complete surprise; but she had
learned in the last two or three years that her mother was very sensitive, and that she could hurt her in unexpected ways. Jennie was finally
compelled to tell Vesta that Lester's fortune had been dependent on his
leaving her solely because she was not of his station. Vesta listened
soberly and half suspected the truth. She felt terribly sorry for her mother, and, because of Jennie's obvious distress, she was trebly gay and
courageous. She refused outright the suggestion of going to a boarding-
school and kept as close to her mother as she could. She found interesting books to read with her, insisted that they go to see plays together, played to her on the piano, and asked for her mother's criticisms on her drawing and modelling. She found a few friends in the excellent Sandwood
school, and brought them home of an evening to add lightness and gaiety
to the cottage life. Jennie, through her growing appreciation of Vesta's
fine character, became more and more drawn toward her. Lester was
gone, but at least she had Vesta. That prop would probably sustain her in the face of a waning existence.
There was also her history to account for to the residents of Sandwood. In many cases where one is content to lead a secluded life it is not necessary to say much of one's past, but as a rule something must be said. People
have the habit of inquiring—if they are no more than butchers and bakers.
By degrees one must account for this and that fact, and it was so here.
She could not say that her husband was dead. Lester might come back.
She had to say that she had left him—to give the impression that it would be she, if any one, who would permit him to return. This put her in an
interesting and sympathetic light in the neighbourhood. It was the most
sensible thing to do. She then settled down to a quiet routine of existence, waiting what denouement to her life she could not guess.
Sandwood life was not without its charms for a lover of nature, and this, with the devotion of Vesta, offered some slight solace. There was the
beauty of the lake, which, with its passing boats, was a never-ending
source of joy, and there were many charming drives in the surrounding
country. Jenny had her own horse and carryall—one of the horses of the
pair they had used in Hyde Park. Other household pets appeared in due
course of time, including a collie, that Vesta named Rats; she had brought him from Chicago as a puppy, and he had grown to be a sterling watch-dog, sensible and affectionate. There was also a cat, Jimmy Woods, so
called after a boy Vesta knew, and to whom she insisted the cat bore a