her husband's genuine discomfiture, which he tried to conceal by
the lightness of his words. She wondered at the extremes he
manifested--quiet but firm and immovable as the rock of Gibraltar in his
business dealings, unaggressive and yielding in all which had to do with
his home life. She hastened to withdraw her complaint.

"Don't worry about Riley," she laughed. "The next time I want to do
something of which he doesn't approve, I'll have it done before he
knows anything about it."

"You don't think I'm supporting Riley against you, do you?"

"No, indeed," Eleanor replied, smiling; "I understand your feelings
about him."

Gorham drew a sigh of relief. "I always want you to bring everything to
me, Eleanor--everything, no matter how slight, which worries you. You
will always do that, won't you?"

"Of course"; Mrs. Gorham looked up quickly.

"You always have, haven't you, dear?"

"Why, yes, Robert; do you doubt it?"

"Sometimes I have a feeling that there might have been something in
those sad years of yours which I could make lighter if you shared it
with me."

"You have made everything lighter and brighter," she replied,