antine's own heart had built with
pride and joy. She wished she had bought a site back from the town and
created a real estate. The fact that she had not done so made her
miserable for over a week, during which Gay consoled her in most
flattering fashion, neglecting his own wife to do so.

Well, after the Villa Rosa--what then? Life seemed very empty. With a
certain natural squareness of nature Beatrice was not the sort of
woman to indulge in unwise affairs beyond a certain discreet point.
She had never learned how to study, so she could not become a devotee
of some fascinating and exacting subject. Her really keen mind had
merely skimmed through her studies.

Nor was she over fond of children. As she told Trudy, children were
absorbing things and goodness knew if she ever had any of her own she
would have a wonderful enough nursery and sun parlour with panels
designed by a child psychologist; there was everything in first
impressions. But take care of one of them? The actual responsibility?
Heavens, what a fate! She would engage a trained baby nurse--and then
drop in at the nursery for a few moments each day to see that
everything was going well.

Later, after the trying first years, she would be very proud of her
children. Besides, planning children's clothes was a great deal of
fun; and if she had a daughter she would see that the daughter
married properly. Whether or not she was thinking of Steve, Trudy did
not dare to ask; but she evidently was, as she added that one might
better marry an impoverished nobleman and live in an atmosphere of
culture and smart society than marry someone who never attempted to be
anything.

A child demanded of one intelligence up to a certain point, and
faithful service, but it did not require keen intellect. A primitive
knowledge of what their hurt or hunger or plain-temper cry meant--and
a primitive tender fashion of coping with whichever it might be--were
all that young babies demanded; and hence the Gorgeous Girl, like all
finely bred and thoroughly selfish women of to-day who are bent on
psychological nursery panels, refused to be tied down to the narrow
routine of a nursemaid, as she called it. Love-gardening is the title
old-fashioned gentlewomen originated.

Then Beatrice cited how carefree Jill Briggs was with her four
children. Goodness knew that Jill was always within hailing distance
of the big time; and except for a few little illnesses and the
fact that the oldest b