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said Fulbert. ‘I am leaving burdens upon you.’
    â€˜I need not become a baby again to comfort Mother,’ said Graham.
    â€˜It does not seem to have that result,’ said Fulbert. ‘Well, do any of you give a thought to my exile?’
    â€˜Many thoughts, Father,’ said Luce, ‘but we are not to help it. We are sad to our hearts, but we do not feel guilty.’
    â€˜That must be wonderful,’ said Graham.
    â€˜We ought to feel grateful,’ said Eleanor.
    â€˜That involves guilt,’ said Daniel. ‘It seems grasping to have so much done for you.’
    â€˜I suppose that is what it is about gratitude,’ mused Luce. ‘I have wondered what it is, that takes from it what it ought to have.’
    â€˜I should always be glad of a chance of feeling it,’ said Fulbert.
    â€˜That is a sign of a generous nature,’ said Regan, who was direct in tribute to her family.
    â€˜Father does not say he has had the chance,’ said Daniel.
    â€˜He is a proud man,’ said Graham.
    â€˜Do you wish you were old enough to help your father, Daniel?’ said Sir Jesse.
    â€˜I should like to be considered to be so, if it would mean my going with him.’
    â€˜What is your reason for desiring it?’
    â€˜It would make a change,’ said Daniel, keeping his face grave.
    â€˜That shows you are not old enough,’ said his mother at once.
    â€˜That is not your father’s reason for leaving us.’
    â€˜No, but it will be one of the results.’
    Regan gave a laugh and Eleanor looked at her.
    â€˜You are too kind to them, Lady Sullivan. Their life in this house will hardly prepare them for the world outside.’
    â€˜I never feel that that sphere is as bad as it is painted,’ said Daniel.
    â€˜You can talk of it when you are qualified,’ said Sir Jesse.
    â€˜Grandpa does not set us the example,’ murmured Graham.
    â€˜Your experience of it at Cambridge has not taken you far,’ said Eleanor.
    â€˜No, Mother dear, but farther than you titiink,’ said Luce. ‘Cambridge would be a miniature world.’
    â€˜I am to have a good, long glimpse of a far corner of the real one,’ said Fulbert.
    â€˜I shall have to be father as well as mother here,’ said Eleanor.
    â€˜There goes the attention from Father again,’ said Daniel, while Graham gave a glance at Fulbert.
    â€˜Hatton will be both to the little ones,’ said Luce.
    â€˜Don’t you know more about it than that?’ said her mother. ‘But that is how it would be, I suppose. The nurse who does it fora living is the one preferred. Mothers must learn that they come second.’
    â€˜My dear, do not talk without sense,’ said Fulbert. ‘You do not make the affairs of childhood your province. You cannot shine in a sphere where you have not chosen to function.’
    â€˜Do you want a nurse for your children, or a mother?’
    â€˜I want both, and my children have them. And I hope they also have a father. But we must not claim other people’s credit.’
    â€˜I suppose I may have my own. I can expect a little recognition in the family that takes my life.’
    Regan looked on without a change of expression, as though having no feeling that would cause one. She had neither pity nor blame for a woman who gave way under the demand of her family. She had never done so herself, but to her the family was the only thing that did not produce such a result.
    â€˜We know what you give us, my dear,’ said Sir Jesse to Eleanor. ‘You do not think we do not?’
    â€˜If feelings are always covered we may not remember them.’
    â€˜They are no less safe like that, Mother,’ said Luce.
    â€˜I know they are there, my dear. I ought not to need to be reminded.’
    â€˜Father,’ said Luce, turning her eyes on Fulbert’s face, ‘what did you mean by saying that Mother did not make the