course,' with swimming eyes, 'in a sense it's hard on all of us--I
mean to be expecting parents in these circumstances. There must be
almost the same feeling of strangeness in the house as when it is a
baby that is expected.'

'I suppose it is a bit like that,' Cosmo says gloomily. He goes to her
as the awfulness of this sinks into him: 'Great Scott, Amy, it can't
be quite so bad as that.'

Amy, who is of a very affectionate nature, is glad to have the comfort
of his hand.

'What do we really know about mother, Cosmo?' she says darkly.

They are perhaps a touching pair.

'There are her letters, Amy.'

'Can one know a person by letters? Does she know you, Cosmo, by your
letters to her, saying that your motto is "Something attempted,
something done to earn a night's repose," and so on.'

'Well, I thought that would please her.'

'Perhaps in her letters she says things just to please us.'

Cosmo wriggles.

'This is pretty low of you, damping a fellow when he was trying to
make the best of it.'