Bertram’sarmwasasgoodasever’now，accordingtoitsowner；andthesittingsforthenewportraitbeganatonce。ThisleftBillyevenmoretoherowndevices，forBertramenteredintohisnewworkwithanenthusiasmbornofagladrelieffromforcedidleness，andaconsumingeagernesstoprovethateventhoughhehadfailedthefirsttime，hecouldpaintaportraitofMargueriteWinthropthatwouldbeacredittohimself，aconclusiveretorttohiscritics，andasourceofpridetohisoncemortifiedfriends。Withhiswholeheart，therefore，hethrewhimselfintotheworkbeforehim，stayingsometimeswellintotheafternoononthedaysMissWinthropcouldfindtimebetweenhersocialengagementstogivehimasitting。
Itwasonsuchaday，towardthemiddleofthemonth，thatBillywascalledtothetelephoneathalf-pasttwelveo’clocktospeaktoherhusband。
Billy，dear，’beganBertramatonce，ifyoudon’tmindI’mstayingtoluncheonatMissWinthrop’skindrequest。We’vechangedthepose——
neitherofuswassatisfied，youknow——butwehaven’tquitesettledonthenewone。MissWinthrophastwowholehoursthisafternoonthatshecangivemeifI’llstay；and，ofcourse，underthecircumstances，Iwanttodoit。’
Ofcourse，’echoedBilly。Billy’svoicewasindomitablycheerful。
Thankyou，dear。Iknewyou’dunderstand，’
sighedBertram，contentedly。Yousee，really，twowholehours，so——it’sachanceIcan’taffordtolose。’
Ofcourseyoucan’t，’echoedBilly，again。
Allrightthen。Good-bytillto-night，’calledtheman。
Good-by，’answeredBilly，stillcheerfully。
Assheturnedaway，however，shetossedherhead。
Anewpose，indeed!’shemuttered，withsomeasperity。Justasiftherecouldbea_new_poseafterallthoseshetriedlastyear!’
ImmediatelyafterluncheonPeteandElizastartedforSouthBostontopayavisittoEliza’smother，anditwassoonaftertheyleftthehousethatBertramcalledhiswifeupagain。
Say，dearie，Iforgottotellyou，’hebegan，butImetanoldfriendinthesubwaythismorning，andI——well，Irememberedwhatyousaidaboutbringing’emhometodinnernexttime，soIaskedhimforto-night。Doyoumind？
It’s——’
Mind？Ofcoursenot!I’mgladyoudid，’
plungedinBilly，withfeverisheagerness。Evennow，justthebarementionofanythingconnectedwiththatawfultest’nightwasenoughtosetBilly’snervestotingling。Iwantyoutoalwaysbringthemhome，Bertram。’
Allright，dear。We’llbethereatsixo’clockthen。It’s——it’sCalderwell，thistime。YourememberCalderwell，ofcourse。’
Not——_Hugh_Calderwell？’Billy’squestionwasalittlefaint。
Sure!’Bertramlaughedoddly，andloweredhisvoice。Isuspect_once_Iwouldn’thavebroughthimhometoyou。Iwastoojealous。
Butnow——well，nowmaybeIwanthimtoseewhathe’slost。’
_Bertram!_’
ButBertramonlylaughedmischievously，andcalledagayGood-bytillto-night，then!’
Billy，atherendofthewires，hungupthereceiverandbackedagainstthewallalittlepalpitatingly。
Calderwell!Todinner——Calderwell!DidsherememberCalderwell？Didshe，indeed!Asifonecouldeasilyforgetthemanthat，forayearortwo，hadproposedmarriageasregularlyandalmostaslightly!ashehadtornamonthlyleaffromhiscalendar!Besides，wasitnothe，too，whohadsaidthatBertramwouldneverloveanygirl，_really_；thatitwouldbeonlythetiltofherchinortheturnofherheadthatheloved——topaint？Andnowhewascomingtodinner——andwithBertram。
Verywell，heshouldsee!HeshouldseethatBertram_did_loveher；_her_——notthetiltofherchinnortheturnofherhead。Heshouldseehowhappytheywere，whatagoodwifeshemade，andhowdevotedand_satisfied_Bertramwasinhishome。Heshouldsee!AndforthwithBillypickedupherskirtsandtrippedup-stairstoselectherveryprettiesthouse-gowntodohonortotheoccasion。Up-stairs，however，onethingandanotherdelayedher，sothatitwasfouro’clockwhensheturnedherattentiontohertoilet；anditwaswhileshewashesitatingwhethertobestatelyandimpressiveinroyallysumptuousbluevelvetandermine，orcozyandtantalizinglyhomy{sic}inbronze-goldcrpedeChineandswan’s-down，thatthetelephonebellrangagain。
ElizaandPetehadnotyetreturned；so，asbefore，Billyansweredit。ThistimeEliza’sshakingvoicecametoher。
Isthatyou，ma’am？’
Why，yes，Eliza？’
Yes’m，it’sme，ma’am。It’saboutUnclePete。He’sgiveusaturnthat’s’mostscaredusoutofourwits。’
Pete!Youmeanhe’ssick？’
Yes，ma’am，hewas。Thatis，heis，too——
onlyhe’sbetter，now，thankgoodness，’pantedEliza。Butheain’thisselfyet。He’sthatwhiteandshaky!Wouldyou——couldyou——thatis，wouldyoumindifwedidn’tcomebacktillintotheevenin’，maybe？’
Why，ofcoursenot，’criedPete’smistress，quickly。Don’tcomeaminutebeforehe’sable，Eliza。Don’tcomeuntilto-morrow。’
Elizagaveatremblinglittlelaugh。
Thankyou，ma’am；buttherewouldn’tbenokeepin’ofUnclePeteheretillthen。Ifhecouldtakefivestepsalonehe’dstartnow。Buthecan’t。Hesayshe’llbeallrightprettyquick，though。He’shad’embefore——thesespells——
butneverquitesobadasthis，Iguess；an’he’sworryin’somethin’turrible’causehecan’tstartforhomerightaway。’
Nonsense!’cutinMrs。BertramHenshaw。
Yes’m。Iknewyou’dfeelthatway，’
stammeredEliza，gratefully。Yousee，Icouldn’tleavehimtocomealone，andbesides，anyhow，I’dhavetostay，formotherain’tnomoreusethanawetdish-ragatsuchtimes，she’sthatscaredherself。Andsheain’tverywell，too。Soif——ifyou_could_getalong——’
Ofcoursewecan!AndtellPetenottoworryonebit。I’msosorryhe’ssick!’
Thankyou，ma’am。Thenwe’llbetheresometimethisevenin’，’sighedEliza。
FromthetelephoneBillyturnedawaywithatroubledface。
Pete_is_ill，’shewassayingtoherself。I
don’tlikethelooksofit；andhe’ssofaithfulhe’dcomeif——’WithalittlecryBillystoppedshort。Then，tremblingly，shesankintothenearestchair。Calderwell——andhe’scomingto_dinner!_’shemoaned。
FortwobenumbedminutesBillysatstaringatnothing。ThensherantothetelephoneandcalledtheAnnex。
AuntHannahanswered。
AuntHannah，forheaven’ssake，ifyouloveme，’pleadedBilly，sendRosadowninstanter!
PeteissickovertoSouthBoston，andElizaiswithhim；andBertramisbringingHughCalderwellhometodinner。_Can_youspareRosa？’
Oh，mygriefandconscience，Billy!OfcourseIcan——ImeanIcould——butRosaisn’there，dearchild!It’sherdayout，youknow。’
Odear，ofcourseitis!Imighthaveknown，ifI’dthought；butPeteandElizahavespoiledme。Theynevertakedaysoutatmealtime——
bothtogether，Imean——untilto-night。’
But，mydearchild，whatwillyoudo？’
Idon’tknow。I’vegottothink。I_must_dosomething!’
Ofcourseyoumust!I’dcomeovermyselfifitwasn’tformycold。’
AsifI’dletyou!’
Thereisn’tanybodyhere，onlyTommy。
EvenAliceisgone。Oh，Billy，Billy，thisonlygoestoprovewhatI’vealwayssaid，that_no_
woman_ought_tobeawifeuntilshe’sanefficienthousekeeper；and——’
Yes，yes，AuntHannah，Iknow，’moanedBilly，frenziedly。ButIamawife，andI’mnotanefficienthousekeeper；andHughCalderwellwon’twaitformetolearn。He’scomingto-night。
_To-night!_AndI’vegottodosomething。Nevermind。I’llfixitsomeway。Good-by!’
But，Billy，Billy!Oh，mygriefandconscience，’
flutteredAuntHannah’svoiceacrossthewiresasBillysnappedthereceiverintoplace。
ForthesecondtimethatdayBillybackedpalpitatinglyagainstthewall。Hereyessoughttheclockfearfully。
Fifteenminutespastfour。Shehadanhourandthreequarters。Shecould，ofcourse，telephoneBertramtodineCalderwellatacluborsomehotel。Buttodothisnow，theveryfirsttime，whenithadbeenherownsuggestionthathebringthemhome’——no，no，shecouldnotdothat!Anythingbutthat!Besides，verylikelyshecouldnotreachBertram，anyway。DoubtlesshehadlefttheWinthrops’bythistime。
TherewasMarie。ShecouldtelephoneMarie。
ButMariecouldnotverywellcomejustnow，sheknew；andthen，too，therewasCyriltobetakenintoconsideration。HowCyrilwouldgibeatthewifewhohadtocallinalltheneighborsjustbecauseherhusbandwasbringinghomeafriendtodinner!Howhewould——Well，heshouldn’t!
Heshouldnothavethechance。So，there!
WithajerkMrs。BertramHenshawpulledherselfawayfromthewallandstooderect。Hereyessnapped，andtheverypoiseofherchinspelleddetermination。
Verywell，shewouldshowthem。WasnotBertrambringingthismanhomebecausehewasproudofher？MightyproudhewouldbeifshehadtocallinhalfofBostontogethisdinnerforhim!Nonsense!Shewouldgetitherself。Wasnotthisthetime，ifever，tobeanoak？Avine，doubtless，wouldleanandclingandtelephone，andwhineIcan’t!’Butnotanoak。AnoakwouldholdupitsheadandsayIcan!’Anoakwouldgoaheadandgetthatdinner。Shewouldbeanoak。Shewouldgetthatdinner。
Whatifshedidn’tknowhowtocookbreadandcakeandpiesandthings？Onedidnothavetocookbreadandcakeandpiesjusttogetadinner——meatandpotatoesandvegetables!Besides，she_could_makepeachfritters。Sheknewshecould。Shewouldshowthem!
Andwithactuallyabitofsongonherlips，Billyskippedup-stairsforherruffledapronanddust-
cap——twonecessaryaccompanimentstothisdinner-getting，inheropinion。
Billyfoundtheapronanddust-capwithnodifficulty；butittookfullytenofherpreciousminutestounearthfromitsobscurehiding-placetheblue-and-goldBride’sHelper’cookbook，oneofAuntHannah’sweddinggifts。
Onthewaytothekitchen，Billyplannedherdinner。Aswasnatural，perhaps，shechosethethingssheherselfwouldliketoeat。
Iwon’tattemptanythingveryelaborate，’
shesaidtoherself。Itwouldbewisertohavesomethingsimple，likechickenpie，perhaps。I
lovechickenpie!AndI’llhaveoysterstewfirst——thatis，afterthegrapefruit。Justoystersboiledinmilkmustbeeasierthansouptomake。
I’llbeginwithgrapefruitwithacherryinit，likePetefixesit。Thosedon’thavetobecooked，anyhow。I’llhavefish——Bertramlovesthefishcourse。Letmesee，halibut，Iguess，witheggsauce。Iwon’thaveanyroast；nothingbutthechickenpie。AndI’llhavesquashandonions。
Icanhaveasalad，easy——justlettuceandstuff。
Thatdoesn’thavetobecooked。Oh，andthepeachfritters，ifIgettimetomakethem。Fordessert——well，maybeIcanfindanewpieorpuddinginthecookbook。Iwanttousethatcookbookforsomething，afterhuntingallthistimeforit!’
InthekitchenBillyfoundexquisiteneatness，andsilence。Thefirstbroughtanapprovinglighttohereyes；butthesecond，forsomeunapparentreason，filledherheartwithvaguemisgiving。
Thisfeeling，however，Billyresolutelycastfromherasshecrossedtheroom，droppedherbookontothetable，andturnedtowardtheshiningblackstove。
Therewasanexcellentfire。Glowingpointsoflightshowedthatonlyagooddraftwasneededtomakethewholemassofcoalred-hot。Billy，however，didnotknowthis。Herexperienceoffireswasconfinedtoburningwoodinopengrates——andwoodinopengrateshadtobepokedtomakeitredandglowing。Withconfidentalacritynow，therefore，Billycaughtupthepoker，thrustitintothemassofcoalsandgavethemafinestirringup。Thenshesetbackthelidofthestoveandwenttohuntuptheingredientsforherdinner。
BythetimeBillyhadsearchedfiveminutesandfoundnochicken，nooysters，andnohalibut，itoccurredtoherthatherlarderwasnot，afterall，anopenmarket，andthatone’sprovisionsmustbeespeciallyorderedtofitone’sneeds。
Astoorderingthemnow——Billyglancedattheclockandshookherhead。
It’salmostfive，already，andthey’dnevergethereintime，’shesighedregretfully。I’llhavetohavesomethingelse。’