marriedtoUncleBertram，aren’tyou？’
Icertainlyam，mydear，’smiledBilly，tryingtospeakunconcernedly。
Well，then，whatmakesyouforgetit？’
Whatmakesmeforget——Why，child，whataquestion!Whatdoyoumean？Idon’tforgetit!’exclaimedBilly，indignantly。
Thenwhat_did_mothermean？IheardhertellUncleWilliammyself——shedidn’tknowI
heard，though——thatshedidwishyou’drememberyouwereUncleBertram’swifeaswellasCousinBertram’smother。’
Billyflushedscarlet，thengrewverywhite。
AtthatmomentMrs。Hartwellcameintotheroom。LittleKateturnedtriumphantly。
There，shehasn’tforgotten，andIknewshehadn’t，mother!Iaskedherjustnow，andshesaidshehadn’t。’
Hadn’twhat？’questionedMrs。Hartwell，lookingalittleapprehensivelyathersister-in-
law’swhitefaceandangryeyes。
Hadn’tforgottenthatshewasUncleBertram’swife。’
Kate，’interposedBilly，steadilymeetinghersister-in-law’sgaze，willyoubegoodenoughtotellmewhatthischildistalkingabout？’
Mrs。Hartwellsighed，andgaveanimpatientgesture。
Kate，I’veamindtotakeyouhomeonthenexttrain，’shesaidtoherdaughter。Runaway，now，down-stairs。YourAuntBillyandI
wanttotalk。Come，come，hurry!ImeanwhatIsay，’sheaddedwarningly，asshesawunmistakablesignsofrebelliononthesmallyoungface。
Iwish，’poutedlittleKate，risingreluctantly，andmovingtowardthedoor，thatyoudidn’talwayssendmeawayjustwhenIwantedmosttostay!’
Well，Kate？’promptedBilly，asthedoorclosedbehindthelittlegirl。
Yes，IsupposeI’llhavetosayitnow，aslongasthatchildhasputherfingerinthepie。
ButIhadn’tintendedtospeak，nomatterwhatIsaw。IpromisedmyselfIwouldn’t，beforeI
came。Iknow，ofcourse，howBertramandCyril，andWilliam，too，saythatI’malwaysinterferinginaffairsthatdon’tconcernme——though，forthatmatter，ifmyownbrother’saffairsdon’tconcernme，Idon’tknowwhoseshould!
But，asIsaid，Iwasn’tgoingtospeakthistime，nomatterwhatIsaw。AndIhaven’t——
excepttoWilliam，andCyril，andAuntHannah；
butIsupposesomewherelittleKategotholdofit。It’ssimplythis，Billy。Itseemstomeit’shightimeyoubegantorealizethatyou’reBertram’swifeaswellasthebaby’smother。’
That，Iam——Idon’tthinkIquiteunderstand，’
saidBilly，unsteadily。
No，Isupposeyoudon’t，’sighedKate，thoughwhereyoureyesare，Idon’tsee——or，rather，Idosee：they’reonthebaby，_always_。
It’sallverywellandlovely，Billy，tobeadevotedmother，andyoucertainlyarethat。I’llsaythatmuchforyou，andI’lladmitIneverthoughtyouwouldbe。But_can’t_youseewhatyou’redoingtoBertram？’
_DoingtoBertram!_——bybeingadevotedmothertohisson!’
Yes，doingtoBertram。Can’tyouseewhatachangethereisintheboy？Hedoesn’tactlikehimselfatall。He’srestlessandgloomyandentirelyoutofsorts。’
Yes，Iknow；butthat’shisarm，’pleadedBilly。Poorboy——he’ssotiredofit!’
Kateshookherheaddecisively。
It’smorethanhisarm，Billy。You’dseeityourselfifyouweren’tblindedbyyourabsorptioninthatbaby。WhereisBertrameveryevening？Whereishedaytimes？Doyourealizethathe’sbeenathomescarcelyoneeveningsinceIcame？Andasforthedays——he’salmostneverhere。’
But，Kate，hecan’tpaintnow，youknow，soofcoursehedoesn’tneedtostaysocloselyathome，’defendedBilly。Hegoesouttofinddistractionfromhimself。’
Yes，`distraction，’indeed，’sniffedKate。
Andwheredoyousupposehefindsit？Doyou_know_wherehefindsit？Itellyou，Billy，BertramHenshawisnotthesortofmanthatshouldfindtoomuch`distraction’outsidehishome。HistastesandhistemperamentarealtogethertooBohemian，and——’
Billyinterruptedwithaperemptorilyupraisedhand。
Pleaseremember，Kate，youarespeakingofmyhusbandtohiswife；andhiswifehasperfectconfidenceinhim，andisjustalittleparticularastowhatyousay。’
Yes；well，I’mspeakingofmybrother，too，whomIknowverywell，’shruggedKate。Allis，youmayremembersometimethatIwarnedyou——that’sall。Thistrustingbusinessisallverypretty；butIthink’twouldbealotprettier，andavastdealmoresensible，ifyou’dgivehimalittleattentionaswellastrust，andseeifyoucan’tkeephimathomeabitmore。Atleastyou’llknowwhomhe’swith，then。CyrilsayshesawhimlastweekwithBobSeaver。’
With——Bob——Seaver？’falteredBilly，changingcolor。
Yes。Iseeyourememberhim，’smiledKate，notquiteagreeably。Perhapsnowyou’lltakesomestockinwhatI’vesaid，andrememberit。’
I’llrememberit，certainly，’returnedBilly，alittleproudly。You’vesaidagoodmanythingstome，inthepast，Mrs。Hartwell，andI’verememberedthemall——everyone。’
ItwasKate’sturntoflush，andshedidit。
Yes，Iknow。AndIpresumeverylikelysometimesthere_hasn’t_beenmuchfoundationforwhatI’vesaid。Ithinkthistime，however，you’llfindthereis，’shefinished，withanairofhurtdignity。
Billymadenoreply，perhapsbecauseDelia，atthatmoment，broughtinthebaby。
Mrs。HartwellandlittleKatelefttheStratathenextmorning。UntilthenBillycontrivedtokeep，beforethem，acountenanceserene，andamannerfreefromunrest。Evenwhen，afterdinnerthatevening，Bertramputonhishatandcoatandwentout，Billyrefusedtomeethersister-
in-law’smeaninggaze。Butinthemorning，aftertheyhadleftthehouse，Billydidnotattempttodeceiveherself。Determinedly，then，shesetherselftogoingoverinhermindthepastmonthssincethebabycame；andshewasappalledatwhatshefound。Everinherears，too，wasthatfearedname，BobSeaver’；andeverbeforehereyeswasthatnightyearsagowhen，asaneighteen-year-oldgirl，shehadfollowedBertramandBobSeaverintoaglitteringcaf
ateleveno’clockatnight，becauseBertramhadbeendrinkingandwasnothimself。SherememberedBertram’sfacewhenhehadseenher，andwhathehadsaidwhenshebeggedhimtocomehome。Sheremembered，too，whatthefamilyhadsaidafterward。Butsheremembered，also，thatyearslaterBertramhadtoldherwhatthatescapadeofhershadreallydoneforhim，andthathebelievedhehadactuallylovedherfromthatmoment。Afterthatnight，atallevents，hehadhadlittletodowithBobSeaver。
AndnowSeaverwasbackagain，itseemed——
andwithBertram。Theyhadbeenseentogether。
Butiftheyhad，whatcouldshedo？Surelyshecouldhardlynowfollowthemintoapubliccaf
anddemandthatSeaverletherhusbandcomehome!Butshecouldkeephimathome，perhaps。
(Billyquitebrightenedatthisthought。)KatehadsaidthatshewassoabsorbedinBabythatherhusbandreceivednoattentionatall。Billydidnotbelievethiswastrue；butifitweretrue，shecouldatleastrectifythatmistake。Ifitwereattentionthathewanted——heshouldwantnomore。PoorBertram!Nowonderthathehadsoughtdistractionoutside!Whenonehadahorridbrokenarmthatwouldnotletonedoanything，whatelsecouldonedo？
JusthereBillysuddenlyrememberedthebook，ATalktoYoungWives。’Ifsherecollectedrightly，therewasachapterthatcoveredtheveryclaimKatehadbeenmaking。Billyhadnotthoughtofthebookformonths，butshewentatoncetogetitnow。Theremightbe，afterall，somethinginitthatwouldhelpher。
TheComingoftheFirstBaby。’Billyfoundthechapterwithoutdifficultyandsettledherselftoread，hercountenancealightwithinterest。Inasurprisinglyshorttime，however，anewexpressioncametoherface；andatlastalittlegaspofdismayfellfromherlips。Shelookedupthen，withastartledgaze。
_Had_herwallspossessedeyesandearsallthesepastmonths，onlytogiveinstructionstoanunseenhandthatitmightwritewhattheeyesandearshadlearned？Foritwassuchsentencesasthesethattheconscience-smittenBillyread：
Maternityisapttoworkamiracleinawoman’slife，butsometimesitspellsdisastersofarasdomesticblissisconcerned。Theyoungmother，wrappedupinthedelightsanddutiesofmotherhood，utterlyforgetsthatshehasahusband。
Shelivesandmovesandhasherbeinginthenursery。Shethinksbaby，talksbaby，knowsonlybaby。Sherefusestodressup，becauseitiseasiertotakecareofbabyinafrowzywrapper。
Shewillnotgooutwithherhusbandforfearsomethingmighthappentothebaby。Shegivesuphermusicbecausebabywon’tletherpractice。
Invainherhusbandtriestointerestherinhisownaffairs。Shehasneithereyesnorearsforhim，onlyforbaby。
Nownomanenjoyshavinghisnoseputoutofjoint，evenbyhisownchild。Heloveshischilddevotedly，andisproudofhim，ofcourse；
butthatdoesnotkeephimfromwantingthesocietyofhiswifeoccasionally，norfromlongingforherold-timeloveandsympatheticinterest。
Itisanadmirablething，certainly，forawomantobeadevotedmother；butmaternalaffectioncanbecarriedtoofar。Husbandshavesomerightsaswellasoffspring；andthewifewhoneglectsherhusbandforherbabiesdoessoatherperil。Home，withthewifeeternallyinthenursery，isapttobeadullandlonelythingtotheaveragehusband，sohestartsouttofindamusementforhimself——andhefindsit。Thenisthetimewhenthenewlittlelifethatissoprecious，andthatshouldhaveboundthetwomorecloselytogether，becomesthewedgethatdrivesthemapart。’
Billydidnotreadanymore。Withalittlesobbingcrysheflungthebookbackintoherdesk，andbegantopulloffherwrapper。Herfingersshook。AlreadyshesawherselfaMonster，aWickedDestroyerofDomesticBlisswithherthoughtlessabsorptioninBaby，untilhehadbecomethatAwfulThing——a_Wedge_。AndBertram——
poorBertram，withhisbrokenarm!Shehadnotplayedtohim，norsungtohim，norgoneoutwithhim。AndwhenhadtheyhadoneoftheirgoodlongtalksaboutBertram’sworkandplans？
Butitshouldallbechangednow。Shewouldplay，andsing，andgooutwithhim。Shewoulddressup，too。Heshouldseenomorewrappers。
Shewouldaskabouthiswork，andseeminterested。She_was_interested。Sherememberednow，thatjustbeforehewashurt，hehadtoldherofanewportrait，andofanewFaceofaGirl’thathehadplannedtodo。Latelyhehadsaidnothingaboutthese。Hehadseemeddiscouraged——andnowonder，withhisbrokenarm!
Butshewouldchangeallthat。Heshouldsee!
AndforthwithBillyhurriedtoherclosettopickoutherprettiesthousefrock。
LongbeforedinnerBillywasready，waitinginthedrawing-room。ShehadonaprettylittlebluesilkgownthatsheknewBertramliked，andshewatchedveryanxiouslyforBertramtocomeupthesteps。Sherememberednow，withapang，thathehadlongsincegivenuphispeculiarring；butshemeanttomeethimatthedoorjustthesame。
Bertram，however，didnotcome。Ataquarterbeforesixhetelephonedthathehadmetsomefriends，andwoulddineattheclub。
My，my，howprettyweare!’exclaimedUncleWilliam，whentheywentdowntodinnertogether。Newfrock？’
Why，no，UncleWilliam，’laughedBilly，alittletremulously。You’veseenitdozensoftimes!’
HaveI？’murmuredtheman。Idon’tseemtorememberit。ToobadBertramisn’theretoseeyou。Somehow，youlookunusuallyprettyto-night。’
AndBilly’sheartachedanew。
Billyspenttheeveningpracticing——softly，tobesure，soasnottowakeBaby——but_practicing_。
AsthedayspassedBillydiscoveredthatitwasmucheasiertosayshewouldchangethings’thanitwasreallytochangethem。Shechangedherself，itistrue——herclothes，herhabits，herwords，andherthoughts；butitwasmoredifficulttochangeBertram。Inthefirstplace，hewastheresolittle。Shewasdismayedwhenshesawhowverylittle，indeed，hewasathome——andshedidnotliketoaskhimoutrighttostay。Thatwasnotinaccordancewithherplans。Besides，theTalktoYoungWives’
