Bertram’sarmwasasgoodasever’now，accordingtoitsowner；andthesittingsforthenewportraitbeganatonce。ThisleftBillyevenmoretoherowndevices，forBertramenteredintohisnewworkwithanenthusiasmbornofagladrelieffromforcedidleness，andaconsumingeagernesstoprovethateventhoughhehadfailedthefirsttime，hecouldpaintaportraitofMargueriteWinthropthatwouldbeacredittohimself，aconclusiveretorttohiscritics，andasourceofpridetohisoncemortifiedfriends。Withhiswholeheart，therefore，hethrewhimselfintotheworkbeforehim，stayingsometimeswellintotheafternoononthedaysMissWinthropcouldfindtimebetweenhersocialengagementstogivehimasitting。
　　Itwasonsuchaday，towardthemiddleofthemonth，thatBillywascalledtothetelephoneathalf-pasttwelveo’clocktospeaktoherhusband。
　　Billy，dear，’beganBertramatonce，ifyoudon’tmindI’mstayingtoluncheonatMissWinthrop’skindrequest。We’vechangedthepose——
　　neitherofuswassatisfied，youknow——butwehaven’tquitesettledonthenewone。MissWinthrophastwowholehoursthisafternoonthatshecangivemeifI’llstay；and，ofcourse，underthecircumstances，Iwanttodoit。’
　　Ofcourse，’echoedBilly。Billy’svoicewasindomitablycheerful。
　　Thankyou，dear。Iknewyou’dunderstand，’
　　sighedBertram，contentedly。Yousee，really，twowholehours，so——it’sachanceIcan’taffordtolose。’
　　Ofcourseyoucan’t，’echoedBilly，again。
　　Allrightthen。Good-bytillto-night，’calledtheman。
　　Good-by，’answeredBilly，stillcheerfully。
　　Assheturnedaway，however，shetossedherhead。
　　Anewpose，indeed!’shemuttered，withsomeasperity。Justasiftherecouldbea_new_poseafterallthoseshetriedlastyear!’
　　ImmediatelyafterluncheonPeteandElizastartedforSouthBostontopayavisittoEliza’smother，anditwassoonaftertheyleftthehousethatBertramcalledhiswifeupagain。
　　Say，dearie，Iforgottotellyou，’hebegan，butImetanoldfriendinthesubwaythismorning，andI——well，Irememberedwhatyousaidaboutbringing’emhometodinnernexttime，soIaskedhimforto-night。Doyoumind？
　　It’s——’
　　Mind？Ofcoursenot!I’mgladyoudid，’
　　plungedinBilly，withfeverisheagerness。Evennow，justthebarementionofanythingconnectedwiththatawfultest’nightwasenoughtosetBilly’snervestotingling。Iwantyoutoalwaysbringthemhome，Bertram。’
　　Allright，dear。We’llbethereatsixo’clockthen。It’s——it’sCalderwell，thistime。YourememberCalderwell，ofcourse。’
　　Not——_Hugh_Calderwell？’Billy’squestionwasalittlefaint。
　　Sure!’Bertramlaughedoddly，andloweredhisvoice。Isuspect_once_Iwouldn’thavebroughthimhometoyou。Iwastoojealous。
　　Butnow——well，nowmaybeIwanthimtoseewhathe’slost。’
　　_Bertram!_’
　　ButBertramonlylaughedmischievously，andcalledagayGood-bytillto-night，then!’
　　Billy，atherendofthewires，hungupthereceiverandbackedagainstthewallalittlepalpitatingly。
　　Calderwell!Todinner——Calderwell!DidsherememberCalderwell？Didshe，indeed!Asifonecouldeasilyforgetthemanthat，forayearortwo，hadproposedmarriageasregularlyandalmostaslightly!ashehadtornamonthlyleaffromhiscalendar!Besides，wasitnothe，too，whohadsaidthatBertramwouldneverloveanygirl，_really_；thatitwouldbeonlythetiltofherchinortheturnofherheadthatheloved——topaint？Andnowhewascomingtodinner——andwithBertram。
　　Verywell，heshouldsee!HeshouldseethatBertram_did_loveher；_her_——notthetiltofherchinnortheturnofherhead。Heshouldseehowhappytheywere，whatagoodwifeshemade，andhowdevotedand_satisfied_Bertramwasinhishome。Heshouldsee!AndforthwithBillypickedupherskirtsandtrippedup-stairstoselectherveryprettiesthouse-gowntodohonortotheoccasion。Up-stairs，however，onethingandanotherdelayedher，sothatitwasfouro’clockwhensheturnedherattentiontohertoilet；anditwaswhileshewashesitatingwhethertobestatelyandimpressiveinroyallysumptuousbluevelvetandermine，orcozyandtantalizinglyhomy{sic}inbronze-goldcrpedeChineandswan’s-down，thatthetelephonebellrangagain。
　　ElizaandPetehadnotyetreturned；so，asbefore，Billyansweredit。ThistimeEliza’sshakingvoicecametoher。
　　Isthatyou，ma’am？’
　　Why，yes，Eliza？’
　　Yes’m，it’sme，ma’am。It’saboutUnclePete。He’sgiveusaturnthat’s’mostscaredusoutofourwits。’
　　Pete!Youmeanhe’ssick？’
　　Yes，ma’am，hewas。Thatis，heis，too——
　　onlyhe’sbetter，now，thankgoodness，’pantedEliza。Butheain’thisselfyet。He’sthatwhiteandshaky!Wouldyou——couldyou——thatis，wouldyoumindifwedidn’tcomebacktillintotheevenin’，maybe？’
　　Why，ofcoursenot，’criedPete’smistress，quickly。Don’tcomeaminutebeforehe’sable，Eliza。Don’tcomeuntilto-morrow。’
　　Elizagaveatremblinglittlelaugh。
　　Thankyou，ma’am；buttherewouldn’tbenokeepin’ofUnclePeteheretillthen。Ifhecouldtakefivestepsalonehe’dstartnow。Buthecan’t。Hesayshe’llbeallrightprettyquick，though。He’shad’embefore——thesespells——
　　butneverquitesobadasthis，Iguess；an’he’sworryin’somethin’turrible’causehecan’tstartforhomerightaway。’
　　Nonsense!’cutinMrs。BertramHenshaw。
　　Yes’m。Iknewyou’dfeelthatway，’
　　stammeredEliza，gratefully。Yousee，Icouldn’tleavehimtocomealone，andbesides，anyhow，I’dhavetostay，formotherain’tnomoreusethanawetdish-ragatsuchtimes，she’sthatscaredherself。Andsheain’tverywell，too。Soif——ifyou_could_getalong——’
　　Ofcoursewecan!AndtellPetenottoworryonebit。I’msosorryhe’ssick!’
　　Thankyou，ma’am。Thenwe’llbetheresometimethisevenin’，’sighedEliza。
　　FromthetelephoneBillyturnedawaywithatroubledface。
　　Pete_is_ill，’shewassayingtoherself。I
　　don’tlikethelooksofit；andhe’ssofaithfulhe’dcomeif——’WithalittlecryBillystoppedshort。Then，tremblingly，shesankintothenearestchair。Calderwell——andhe’scomingto_dinner!_’shemoaned。
　　FortwobenumbedminutesBillysatstaringatnothing。ThensherantothetelephoneandcalledtheAnnex。
　　AuntHannahanswered。
　　AuntHannah，forheaven’ssake，ifyouloveme，’pleadedBilly，sendRosadowninstanter!
　　PeteissickovertoSouthBoston，andElizaiswithhim；andBertramisbringingHughCalderwellhometodinner。_Can_youspareRosa？’
　　Oh，mygriefandconscience，Billy!OfcourseIcan——ImeanIcould——butRosaisn’there，dearchild!It’sherdayout，youknow。’
　　Odear，ofcourseitis!Imighthaveknown，ifI’dthought；butPeteandElizahavespoiledme。Theynevertakedaysoutatmealtime——
　　bothtogether，Imean——untilto-night。’
　　But，mydearchild，whatwillyoudo？’
　　Idon’tknow。I’vegottothink。I_must_dosomething!’
　　Ofcourseyoumust!I’dcomeovermyselfifitwasn’tformycold。’
　　AsifI’dletyou!’
　　Thereisn’tanybodyhere，onlyTommy。
　　EvenAliceisgone。Oh，Billy，Billy，thisonlygoestoprovewhatI’vealwayssaid，that_no_
　　woman_ought_tobeawifeuntilshe’sanefficienthousekeeper；and——’
　　Yes，yes，AuntHannah，Iknow，’moanedBilly，frenziedly。ButIamawife，andI’mnotanefficienthousekeeper；andHughCalderwellwon’twaitformetolearn。He’scomingto-night。
　　_To-night!_AndI’vegottodosomething。Nevermind。I’llfixitsomeway。Good-by!’
　　But，Billy，Billy!Oh，mygriefandconscience，’
　　flutteredAuntHannah’svoiceacrossthewiresasBillysnappedthereceiverintoplace。
　　ForthesecondtimethatdayBillybackedpalpitatinglyagainstthewall。Hereyessoughttheclockfearfully。
　　Fifteenminutespastfour。Shehadanhourandthreequarters。Shecould，ofcourse，telephoneBertramtodineCalderwellatacluborsomehotel。Buttodothisnow，theveryfirsttime，whenithadbeenherownsuggestionthathebringthemhome’——no，no，shecouldnotdothat!Anythingbutthat!Besides，verylikelyshecouldnotreachBertram，anyway。DoubtlesshehadlefttheWinthrops’bythistime。
　　TherewasMarie。ShecouldtelephoneMarie。
　　ButMariecouldnotverywellcomejustnow，sheknew；andthen，too，therewasCyriltobetakenintoconsideration。HowCyrilwouldgibeatthewifewhohadtocallinalltheneighborsjustbecauseherhusbandwasbringinghomeafriendtodinner!Howhewould——Well，heshouldn’t!
　　Heshouldnothavethechance。So，there!
　　WithajerkMrs。BertramHenshawpulledherselfawayfromthewallandstooderect。Hereyessnapped，andtheverypoiseofherchinspelleddetermination。
　　Verywell，shewouldshowthem。WasnotBertrambringingthismanhomebecausehewasproudofher？MightyproudhewouldbeifshehadtocallinhalfofBostontogethisdinnerforhim!Nonsense!Shewouldgetitherself。Wasnotthisthetime，ifever，tobeanoak？Avine，doubtless，wouldleanandclingandtelephone，andwhineIcan’t!’Butnotanoak。AnoakwouldholdupitsheadandsayIcan!’Anoakwouldgoaheadandgetthatdinner。Shewouldbeanoak。Shewouldgetthatdinner。
　　Whatifshedidn’tknowhowtocookbreadandcakeandpiesandthings？Onedidnothavetocookbreadandcakeandpiesjusttogetadinner——meatandpotatoesandvegetables!Besides，she_could_makepeachfritters。Sheknewshecould。Shewouldshowthem!
　　Andwithactuallyabitofsongonherlips，Billyskippedup-stairsforherruffledapronanddust-
　　cap——twonecessaryaccompanimentstothisdinner-getting，inheropinion。
　　Billyfoundtheapronanddust-capwithnodifficulty；butittookfullytenofherpreciousminutestounearthfromitsobscurehiding-placetheblue-and-goldBride’sHelper’cookbook，oneofAuntHannah’sweddinggifts。
　　Onthewaytothekitchen，Billyplannedherdinner。Aswasnatural，perhaps，shechosethethingssheherselfwouldliketoeat。
　　Iwon’tattemptanythingveryelaborate，’
　　shesaidtoherself。Itwouldbewisertohavesomethingsimple，likechickenpie，perhaps。I
　　lovechickenpie!AndI’llhaveoysterstewfirst——thatis，afterthegrapefruit。Justoystersboiledinmilkmustbeeasierthansouptomake。
　　I’llbeginwithgrapefruitwithacherryinit，likePetefixesit。Thosedon’thavetobecooked，anyhow。I’llhavefish——Bertramlovesthefishcourse。Letmesee，halibut，Iguess，witheggsauce。Iwon’thaveanyroast；nothingbutthechickenpie。AndI’llhavesquashandonions。
　　Icanhaveasalad，easy——justlettuceandstuff。
　　Thatdoesn’thavetobecooked。Oh，andthepeachfritters，ifIgettimetomakethem。Fordessert——well，maybeIcanfindanewpieorpuddinginthecookbook。Iwanttousethatcookbookforsomething，afterhuntingallthistimeforit!’
　　InthekitchenBillyfoundexquisiteneatness，andsilence。Thefirstbroughtanapprovinglighttohereyes；butthesecond，forsomeunapparentreason，filledherheartwithvaguemisgiving。
　　Thisfeeling，however，Billyresolutelycastfromherasshecrossedtheroom，droppedherbookontothetable，andturnedtowardtheshiningblackstove。
　　Therewasanexcellentfire。Glowingpointsoflightshowedthatonlyagooddraftwasneededtomakethewholemassofcoalred-hot。Billy，however，didnotknowthis。Herexperienceoffireswasconfinedtoburningwoodinopengrates——andwoodinopengrateshadtobepokedtomakeitredandglowing。Withconfidentalacritynow，therefore，Billycaughtupthepoker，thrustitintothemassofcoalsandgavethemafinestirringup。Thenshesetbackthelidofthestoveandwenttohuntuptheingredientsforherdinner。
　　BythetimeBillyhadsearchedfiveminutesandfoundnochicken，nooysters，andnohalibut，itoccurredtoherthatherlarderwasnot，afterall，anopenmarket，andthatone’sprovisionsmustbeespeciallyorderedtofitone’sneeds。
　　Astoorderingthemnow——Billyglancedattheclockandshookherhead。
　　It’salmostfive，already，andthey’dnevergethereintime，’shesighedregretfully。I’llhavetohavesomethingelse。’