country house," he added meditatively.

Jennie did not notice the grimness of the jest. She was too busy
thinking what a tangle she had made of her life. Gerhardt would not
come now, even if they had a lovely home to share with him. And yet he
ought to be with Vesta again. She would make him happy.

She remained lost in a sad abstraction, until Lester, following the
drift of her thoughts, said: "I don't see how it can be arranged.
Marriage certificate blanks aren't easily procurable. It's bad
business--a criminal offense to forge one, I believe. I wouldn't
want to be mixed up in that sort of thing."

"Oh, I don't want you to do anything like that, Lester. I'm just
sorry papa is so stubborn. When he gets a notion you can't change
him."

"Suppose we wait until we get settled after moving," he suggested.
"Then you can go to Cleveland and talk to him personally. You might be
able to persuade him." He liked her attitude toward her father. It was
so decent that he rather wished he could help her carry out her
scheme. While not very interesting, Gerhardt was not objectionable to
Lester, and if the old man wanted to do the odd jobs around a big
place, why not?

CHAPTER XXXVII

The plan for a residence in Hyde Park was not long in taking shape.
After several weeks had passed, and things had quieted down again,
Lester invited Jennie to go with him to South Hyde Park to look for a
house. On the first trip they found something which seemed to suit
admirably--an old-time home of eleven large rooms, set in a lawn
fully two hundred feet square and shaded by trees which had been
planted when the city was young. It was ornate, homelike, peaceful.
Jennie was fascinated by the sense of space and country, although
depressed by the reflection that she was not entering her new home
under the right auspices. She had vaguely hoped that in planning to go
away she was bringing about a condition under which Lester might have
come after her and married her. Now all that was over. She had
promised to stay, and she would have to make the best of it. She
suggested that they would never know what to do with so much room, but
he waved that aside. "We will very likely have people in now and
then," he said. "We can furnish it up anyhow, and see how it looks."
He had the agent make out a five-year lease, with an option for
renewal, and set at once the forces to work to put the establishment
in order.

The house was painted and decorated,