They reached Liverpool on the tenth day—­Monday—­and went up to London the same afternoon.

Reaching the city, Sedgwick sent a message to Mrs. Hamlin to meet them at the house of Jack and Rose, for he would not go to the Hamlin house.

Sedgwick, with his wife and Mrs. Hazleton, went at once to the home of the Brownings.

Rose was wild with delight at their coming.  She hugged Grace, kissed her and cried over her; kissed Sedgwick, and welcomed Mrs. Hazleton so cordially that the lady was sure it was sincere.

Then Mrs. Hamlin came, and the whole business had to be done over again, the elder lady reproaching Grace and her husband for not coming to her, and scolding even as she embraced them.

Then matters quieted down enough to talk.  Rose explained that she was a deserted wife; that Jack six weeks before had come home one night and told her that he was going to sail for South America next day; that she could not go along, but must be good and not be lonesome for six or eight weeks.

Then she continued:  “That is the kind of monsters these men are.  They beg and tease and protest until we women take pity on them and marry them, and then when the woman’s chances for getting a good man are all spoiled, they rush off on the slightest provocation to America, or India, or Australia, or China, or some other barbarous place, and all a woman can do is to mope and threaten that next time she will know better.”

And then she laughed, and then as suddenly cried and said:  “Poor dear old Jack!  May the seas be merciful, and may the good ship bring him safely back and be quick about it!”

And sure enough, a week later a step was heard outside, someone with a night key opened the door, and Rose flew into Jack’s arms and cried so hysterically that it took Jack a long time to calm her.

Browning explained to Sedgwick that he had been earning a commission by going out and reporting on a mine in Venezuela, just over the border from British Guiana.  He brought to Rose a world of tropical and marine curiosities.  He was in superb health and seemed to be in good spirits.

It was understood that Sedgwick would have to go away again in a month, and it was his wish and that of Grace to find a house and have an establishment of their own.

Jack and Rose insisted that during Sedgwick’s absence Grace and Mrs. Hazleton should be their guests, but Sedgwick said with a laugh:  “O Mrs. Browning, you and Jack are good, but you both know that no house is big enough for two families.”  And quietly Jack and Rose and Mrs. Hamlin were enjoined never in Mrs. Hazleton’s presence to mention Jordan’s name.

However, the difficulty was finally settled.  The house Jack lived in was a double house.  The other half was occupied by a gentleman, his wife and one child.  The lady was delicate, and the doctors, baffled by her case, ordered her—­as usual—­to try a change of climate.  So Sedgwick hired the house as Browning had his; the servants remained, and permission was obtained to cut a doorway in the partition walls that divided the two halls, so that Rose could visit Grace in the morning and Grace could visit Rose in the evening.