XX

The days passed by with nothing to justify Eleanor’s apprehensions resulting from Ralph Buckner’s presence in New York, so her fears vanished, and with them the necessity of disturbing her husband’s tranquillity with this confidence which already had been so long postponed.  Gorham’s sudden trip to Washington made this even more natural.  Alice had told her of Covington’s proposal, and was eager to discuss the situation from every possible standpoint.  To the older woman the girl’s attitude toward Allen seemed heartless, yet, knowing her husband’s feeling in the matter, she decided that it was wiser to leave the young people to solve their own problem.  Youth is ever heartless in its attitude toward others, and it is only by its own suffering that it learns the lesson of consideration.  Eleanor sought to impress Alice with the importance of being sure of her own heart before making her final decision, and encouraged her to take plenty of time.  She would have hesitated to do this, on her husband’s account, except that with Allen so hopelessly out of the running the delay could do no harm.  Alice must make no error, Eleanor kept repeating to herself, recalling with painful vividness the result of her own mistaken act of duty.

Covington became a constant visitor at the Gorham home, assuming more and more the prerogatives of an accepted suitor.  His attentions were assiduous and his companionship was so agreeable that Alice considered the arrangement ideal.  Each time he urged her to give him a definite reply she begged off in such a playful, girlish fashion that Covington mildly acquiesced, feeling that each day’s association made the situation that much more favorable to him.  And this courtship, curious as it was, proved not unpleasant to him.  Much to his own surprise, he began to find himself really fond of this young girl, who kept him constantly on the qui vive to follow her from the absurdity of girlish conceits to the opposite extreme of mature discussion of subjects ordinarily far beyond the grasp of her years.  It whetted his interest and possessed a decided fascination for him, he admitted to himself more than once as he left the house to return to his own apartment, wearing a satisfied smile of patronizing indulgence.  Had it not been for the business necessities, and the importance of actually becoming her husband before anything occurred to disturb his relations with Gorham, he would have preferred to have things run on indefinitely as they were.

During this time Allen found Covington’s attitude toward him completely changed.  It would have hurt the older man’s self-respect to admit that the boy could in any way be looked upon as a rival; but young girls are uncertain quantities, and it had been necessary for Alice to prove that she was beyond this danger-point before Covington decided that Allen was a promising youngster, after all, and, as Stephen Sanford’s son, entitled at least to being noticed.