“No. I haven’t seen him since I found out. But I tell you — he only married me out of pity — because I asked him to — because he thought it would only be for a little while.”

Mrs. Frederick and Cousin Stickles both tried to speak, but Uncle Benjamin waved a hand at them and frowned portentously.

“Let me handle this,” wave and wave and frown seemed to say. To Valancy:

“Well, well, dear, we’ll talk it over later. You see, we don’t quite understand everything yet. As Cousin Stickles says, you should have confided in us before. Later on — I dare say we can find a way out of this.”

“You think Barney can easily get a divorce, don’t you?” said Valancy eagerly.