Shedoesn’tcallitthat。’Arkwright’sfaceandvoicesoftened。ItisHillside。Shestillkeepsitopen。ShecallsittheAnnextoherhome。She’sfilleditwithacrippledwoman，apoorlittlemusicteacher，alameboy，andAuntHannah。’
Buthow——extraordinary!’
Shedoesn’tthinkso。Shesaysit’sjustanoverflowhousefortheextrahappinessshecan’tuse。’
Therewasamoment’ssilence。Calderwelllaiddownhiscigar，pulledouthishandkerchief，andblewhisnosefuriously。Thenhegottohisfeetandwalkedtothefireplace。Afteraminuteheturned。
Well，ifsheisn’tthebeat’em!’hespluttered。
AndIhadthegalltoaskyouifHenshawmadeher——happy!Overflowhouse，indeed!’
Thebestofitis，thewayshedoesit，’smiledArkwright。They’reallthesortofpeopleordinarycharitycouldneverreach；andtheonlywayshegotthemthereatallwastomakeeachonethinkthatheorshewasabsolutelynecessarytotherestofthem。Evenasitis，theyallpayalittlesomethingtowardtherunningexpensesofthehouse。Theyinsistedonthat，andMrs。
Henshawhadtoletthem。Ibelieveherchiefdifficultynowisthatshehasnotlessthansixpeoplewhomshewishestoputintothetwoextraroomsstillunoccupied，andshecan’tmakeuphermindwhichtotake。HerhusbandsaysheexpectstohearanydayofanAnnexettetotheAnnex。’
Humph!’gruntedCalderwell，asheturnedandbegantowalkupanddowntheroom。Bertramisstillpainting，Isuppose。’
Oh，yes。’
What’shedoingnow？’
Severalthings。He’suptohiseyesinwork。
Asyouprobablyhaveheard，hemetwithasevereaccidentlastsummer，andlosttheuseofhisrightarmformanymonths。Ibelievetheythoughtatonetimehehadlostitforever。Butit’sallrightnow，andhehasseveralcommissionsforportraits。Alicesayshe’sdoingidealheadsagain，too。’
Sameold`FaceofaGirl’？’
Isupposeso，thoughAlicedidn’tsay。OfcoursehisspecialworkjustnowispaintingtheportraitofMissMargueriteWinthrop。Youmayhaveheardthathetrieditlastyearand——anddidn’tmakequiteasuccessofit。’
Yes。MysisterBelletoldme。ShehearsfromBillyonceinawhile。Willitbeago，thistime？’
We’llhopeso——foreverybody’ssake。I
imaginenoonehasseenityet——it’snotfinished；
butAlicesays——’
Calderwellturnedabruptly，aquizzicalsmileonhisface。
Seehere，myson，’heinterposed，itstrikesmethatthisAliceissayingagooddeal——toyou!
Whoisshe？’
Arkwrightgavealightlaugh。
Why，Itoldyou。SheisMissAliceGreggory，Mrs。Henshaw’sfriend——andmine。I
haveknownherforyears。’
Hm-m；whatisshelike？’
Like？Why，she’slike——likeherself，ofcourse。You’llhavetoknowAlice。She’sthesaltoftheearth——Aliceis，’smiledArkwright，risingtohisfeetwitharemonstrativegesture，ashesawCalderwellpickuphiscoat。What’syourhurry？’
Hm-m，’commentedCalderwellagain，ignoringthequestion。Andwhen，mayIask，doyouintendtoappropriatethis——er——salt——to——er——ah——seasonyourownlifewith，asImightsay——eh？’
Arkwrightlaughed。Therewasnottheslightesttraceofembarrassmentinhisface。
Never。_You’re_onthewrongtrack，thistime。
AliceandIaregoodfriends——alwayshavebeen，andalwayswillbe，Ihope。’
Nothingmore？’
Nothingmore。Iseeherfrequently。Sheismusical，andtheHenshawsaregoodenoughtoaskusthereoftentogether。Youwillmeether，doubtless，now，yourself。SheisfrequentlyattheHenshawhome。’
Hm-m。’Calderwellstilleyedhishostshrewdly。Thenyou’llgivemeaclearfield，eh？’
Certainly。’Arkwright’seyesmethisfriend’sgazewithoutswerving。
Allright。However，Isupposeyou’lltellme，asIdidyou，once，thatarightofwayinsuchacasedoesn’tmeanathoroughfareforthepartyinterested。Ifmymemoryservesme，IgaveyourightofwayinParistowintheaffectionsofacertainelusiveMissBillyhereinBoston，ifyoucould。ButIseeyoudidn’tseemtoimproveyouropportunities，’hefinishedteasingly。
Arkwrightstooped，ofasudden，topickupabitofpaperfromthefloor。
No，’hesaidquietly。Ididn’tseemtoimprovemyopportunities。’ThistimehedidnotmeetCalderwell’seyes。
Thegood-byeshadbeensaidwhenCalderwellturnedabruptlyatthedoor。
Oh，Isay，Isupposeyou’regoingtothatdevil’scarnivalatJordanHallto-morrownight。’
Devil’scarnival!Youdon’tmean——CyrilHenshaw’spianorecital!’
SureIdo，’grinnedCalderwell，unabashed。
AndI’llwarrantit’llbeadevil’scarnival，too。
Isn’tMr。CyrilHenshawgoingtoplayhisownmusic？Oh，IknowI’mhopeless，fromyourstandpoint，butIcan’thelpit。Ilikeminewithsomegoinit，andatunethatyoucanfindwithouthuntingforit。AndIdon’tlikelostspiritsgonemadthatwailandshriekthroughtenperfectlygoodminutes，andthendiewithagaspingmoanwhosehomeisthetombs。However，you’regoing，Itakeit。’
OfcourseIam，’laughedtheother。Youcouldn’thireAlicetomissoneshriekofthosespirits。Besides，Iratherlikethemmyself，youknow。’
Yes，Isupposeyoudo。You’rebroughtuponit——inyourbusiness。Butmeforthe`MerryWidow’andeventhehoary`JingleBells’everytime!However，I’mgoingtobethere——outofrespecttothepoorfellow’sfamily。And，bytheway，that’sanotherthingthatbowledmeover——Cyril’smarriage。Why，Cyrilhateswomen!’
Notallwomen——we’llhope，’smiledArkwright。
Doyouknowhiswife？’
Notmuch。IusedtoseeheralittleatBilly’s。
Musicteacher，wasn’tshe？Thenshe’sthesamesort，Isuppose。’
Butsheisn’t，’laughedArkwright。Oh，shetaughtmusic，butthatwasonlybecauseofnecessity，Itakeit。She’sdomesticthroughandthrough，withanoverwhelmingpassionformakingpuddingsanddarningsocks，Ihear。AlicesaysshebelievesMrs。CyrilknowseverydishandspoonbyitsChristianname，andthatthere’sneversomuchasaspoolofthreadoutoforderinthehouse。’
ButhowdoesCyrilstandit——thetrialsandtribulationsofdomesticlife？BertramusedtodeclarethatthewholeStratawasaquiverwithfearwhenCyrilwascomposing，andIrememberhimasaperfectbearifanybodysomuchaswhisperedwhenhewasinoneofhismoods。I
neverforgotthenightBertramandIwereupinWilliam’sroomtryingtosing`WhenJohnniecomesmarchinghome，’totheaccompanimentofabanjoinBertram’shands，andaguitarinmine。Gorry!itwasHughthatwentmarchinghomethatnight。’
Oh，well，fromreportsIreckonMrs。Cyrildoesn’tplayeitherabanjooraguitar，’smiledArkwright。Alicesaysshewearsrubberheelsonhershoes，andhasputhushersonallthechair-
legs，andfelt-matsbetweenalltheplatesandsaucers。Anyhow，Cyrilisbuildinganewhouse，andhelooksasifhewereinaprettyhealthycondition，asyou’llseeto-morrownight。’
Humph!Iwishhe’dmakehismusichealthy，then，’grumbledCalderwell，asheopenedthedoor。
Februarybroughtbusydays。ThepublicopeningoftheBohemianTenClubExhibitionwastotakeplacethesixthofMarch，withaprivateviewforinvitedgueststhenightbefore；
anditwasatthisexhibitionthatBertramplannedtoshowhisportraitofMargueriteWinthrop。
Healso，ifpossible，wishedtoentertwoorthreeothercanvases，uponwhichhewasspendingallthetimehecouldget。
Bertramfeltthathewasdoingverygoodworknow。TheportraitofMargueriteWinthropwascomingonfinely。Thespoiledidolofsocietyhadatlastfoundaposeandacostumethatsuitedher，andshewasgraciouslypleasedtogivetheartistalmostasmanysittingsashewanted。Theelusivesomething’inherface，whichhadpreviouslybeensobaffling，wasnowalreadycaughtandheldbewitchinglyonhiscanvas。Hewasconfidentthattheportraitwouldbeasuccess。
HewasalsomuchinterestedinanotherpieceofworkwhichheintendedtoshowcalledTheRose。’ThemodelforthiswasabeautifulyounggirlhehadfoundsellingflowerswithherfatherinastreetboothattheNorthEnd。
Onthewhole，Bertramwasveryhappythesedays。Hecouldnot，tobesure，spendquitesomuchtimewithBillyashewished；butsheunderstood，ofcourse，asdidhe，thathisworkmustcomefirst。Heknewthatshetriedtoshowhimthatsheunderstoodit。Atthesametime，hecouldnothelpthinking，occasionally，thatBillydidsometimesmindhisnecessaryabsorptioninhispainting。
TohimselfBertramownedthatBillywas，insomeways，apuzzletohim。Herconductwasstillerraticattimes。Onedayhewouldseemtobeeverythingtoher；thenext——almostnothing，judgingbytheeasewithwhichsherelinquishedhissocietyandsubstitutedthatofsomeoneelse：
Arkwright，orCalderwell，forinstance。
Andthatwasanotherthing。Bertramwasashamedtohinteventohimselfthathewasjealousofeitherofthosemen。Surely，afterwhathadhappened，afterBilly’semphaticassertionthatshehadneverlovedanyonebuthimself，itwouldseemnotonlyabsurd，butdisloyal，thatheshoulddoubtforaninstantBilly’sentiredevotiontohim，andyet——thereweretimeswhenhewishedhe_could_comehomeandnotalwaysfindAliceGreggory，Calderwell，Arkwright，orallthreeofthemstrummingthepianointhedrawing-room!Atsuchtimes，always，though，ifhedidfeelimpatient，heimmediatelydemandedofhimself：Areyou，then，thekindofhusbandthatbegrudgesyourwifeyoungcompanionsofherownageandtastestohelpherwhileawaythehoursthatyoucannotpossiblyspendwithheryourself？’
Thisquestion，andtheanswerthathisbetterselfalwaysgavetoit，wereusuallysufficienttosendhimintosomefloristsforabunchofvioletsforBilly，orintoacandyshoponalikeatoningerrand。
AstoBilly——Billy，too，wasbusythesedayschiefofherconcernsbeing，perhaps，attentiontothathoneymoonofhers，toseethatitdidnotwane。Atleast，themostofherthoughts，andmanyofheractions，centeredaboutthatobject。
Billyhadthebook，now——theTalktoYoungWives。’Foratimeshehadworkedwithonlythenewspapercriticismtoguideher；but，comingatlasttotheconclusionthatifalittlewasgood，moremustbebetter，shehadshylygoneintoabookstoreonedayand，withapinkblush，hadaskedforthebook。Sincebringingithomeshehadstudiedassiduously(thoughneverifBertramwasnear)，keepingitwell-hidden，whennotinuse，inaremotecornerofherdesk。
TherewasagooddealinthebookthatBillydidnotlike，andthereweresomestatementsthatworriedher；butyettherewasmuchthatshetriedearnestlytofollow。Shewasstillstrivingtobetheoak，andshewasstilleagerlyendeavoringtobrushupagainstthosenecessaryoutsideinterests。Shewassothankful，inthisconnection，forAliceGreggory，andforArkwrightandHughCalderwell。Itwassuchahelpthatshehadthem!Theywerenotonlyverypleasantandentertainingoutsideinterests，butoneoranotherofthemwasalmostalwaysconvenientlywithinreach。
Then，too，itpleasedhertothinkthatshewasfurtheringtheprettylovestorybetweenAliceandMr。Arkwright。Andshe_was_furtheringit。
Shewassureofthat。AlreadyshecouldseehowdependentthemanwasonAlice，howhelookedtoherforapprobation，andappealedtoheronalloccasions，exactlyasiftherewasnotamovethathewantedtomakewithoutherpresencenearhim。Billywasverysure，now，ofArkwright。
SheonlywishedshewereasmuchsoofAlice。
