Theundisguisedamusement，mingledwithrelief，thathadoverspreadBarker’sfaceduringthislivelyrecitalmighthaveprickedtheconscienceofMrs。Horncastle，butforsomereasonIfearitdidnot。Butitemboldenedhertogoon。\"IsaidIpromisedherthatIwouldseeshewasn’tdisturbed；but，ofcourse，nowthatYOU，herHUSBAND，havecome，if\"——
\"Notforworlds，\"interruptedBarkerearnestly。\"IknowpoorKitty’sheadaches，andIneverdisturbher，poorchild，exceptwhenI’mthoughtless。\"Andhereoneofthemostthoughtfulmenintheworldinhissensitiveconsiderationofothersbeamedatherwithsuchfrankandwonderfuleyesthatthearchhypocritebeforehimwithdifficultysuppressedahystericaldesiretolaugh，andfelttheconsciousbloodflushhertotherootofherhair。\"Youknow，\"
hewenton，withasigh，halfofreliefandhalfofreminiscence，\"thatIoftenthinkI’magreatbothertoaclear-headed，sensiblegirllikeKitty。SheknowspeoplesomuchbetterthanIdo。She’swonderfullyequippedfortheworld，and，yousee，I’monly’lucky，’
aseverybodysays，andIdaresaypartofmyluckwastohavegother。I’mverygladshe’safriendofyours，youknow，forsomehowIfanciedalwaysthatyouwerenotinterestedinher，orthatyoudidn’tunderstandeachotheruntilnow。It’soddthatnicewomendon’talwayslikenicewomen，isn’tit？I’mgladshewaswithyou；
Iwasquitestartledtolearnshewashere，andcouldn’tmakeitout。IthoughtatfirstshemighthavegotanxiousaboutourlittleSta，whoiswithmeandthenurseatHymettus。ButI’mgladitwasonlyalark。Ishouldn’twonder，\"headded，withalaugh，\"althoughshealwaysdeclaressheisn’toneofthose’doting，idioticmothers，’thatshefounditalittledullwithouttheboy，forallshethoughtitwasbetterforMEtotakehimsomewhereforachangeofair。\"