's the worst thing in the world."

"Is it? Go on, dear Mrs. Kellynch. Tell me more."

"Talk of the children--show interest in them--make him proud of them.
There you have an advantage no other woman has. You're the mother of his
children."

"Does he care for that?"

"Of course he does--and he will more, if you do. Show an interest and a
pride in it, and you will be what no one else can be to him."

Mary thought, and seemed to see it. "Go on, go on!" she said, putting
out her hand.

"Dear Mrs. Hillier, I have envied you so for that! All these years, I've
never had that great happiness. At last"--she paused--"I'll tell you, if
you care to know--at last, after ten years, I am going to have my wish."

"Really! And you are pleased?"

"I'm divinely happy, delighted!"

"Then I'm very glad for you, Mrs. Kellynch. But can't you
imagine--you're so pretty and charming and good-tempered and clever. I'm
none of all these things. I'm not pretty, and I'm very bad-tempered and
terribly jealous by nature and not clever."

"You are his wife and he chose you. And he is a charming, pleasant man.
You ought to be very happy together."

"To tell the truth--I don't mind what I tell you--I feel you're kind and
good and sincere--I have always had a horrible feeling that he married
me--because--because he was hard up. And I had money! And yet----"

"Oh, Mrs. Hillier, don't talk nonsense! It's dreadful of you to say so.
You ought to be very glad to be able to have everything you want,
without having to consider for your children. It's a great thing, I
assure you, to have no money troubles. It's another very big reason for
you and Nigel to be happy. You don't know what it is. It's agony! I do,
because before I was married I was one of a very large family, and my
father was a very popular preacher and all that, but it was a terrible
struggle. To send the boys to public schools and Oxford, the girls had
to be really dreadfully pinched! And always worries about bills! I was
brought up in that atmosphere, and I know that to be entirely free from
it is a most enormous relief and comfort. You will probably never know
how fortunate you are."

"You are right. Of course Nigel is not the man to endure money troubles
well."

"Exactly. Well, now, can't you see that you've every possible chance of
happiness together?"

"May I call you Bertha?" answered Mary. "You've been a real angel to me,
I might have expected you to refuse to see me, or at