"He hasn't sent you very much," Herbert remarked.

"No," said Sylvia, "that's the difficulty."

"So I anticipated. You're not economical."

Sylvia laughed.

"I won't remind you of your failings. You have one virtue--you can be
liberal when it suits you; and you're my trustee."

Lansing's rather fleshy, smooth-shaven face grew thoughtful, but Sylvia
continued:

"I'm going to Susan's, and I really need a lot of new clothes."

"For a week or two's visit?"

"I may, perhaps, go on somewhere else afterward."

"I wonder whether you thought it necessary to tell Muriel so?"

Sylvia sighed.

"I'm afraid I didn't. I can hardly expect Muriel to quite understand
or sympathize. She has you, and the flowers she's so fond of, and
quiet friends of the kind she likes; while it's so different with me.
Besides, I was never meant for retirement."