“That sounds like what you ought to be,” he replied. “I know you will.” And he let her go. A few days later, and in consequence of this agreement, the future of Gerhardt came up for discussion. Jennie had been worrying about him for several days; now it occurred to her that this was something to talk over with Lester. Accordingly, she explained one night at dinner what had happened in Cleveland. “I know he is very unhappy there all alone,” she said, “and I hate to think of it. I was going to get him if I went back to Cleveland. Now I don’t know what to do about it.” “Why don’t you send him some money?” he inquired. “He won’t take any more money from me, Lester,” she explained. “He thinks I’m not good—not acting right. He doesn’t believe I’m married.” “He has pretty good reason, hasn’t he?” said Lester calmly. “I hate to think of him sleeping in a factory. He’s so old and lonely.” “What’s the matter with the rest of the family in Cleveland? Won’t they do anything for him? Where’s your brother Bass?” “I think maybe they don’t want him, he’s so cross,” she said simply. “I hardly know what to suggest in that case,” smiled Lester. “The old gentleman oughtn’t to be so fussy.” “I know,” she said, “but he’s old now, and he has had so much trouble.” Lester ruminated for a while, toying with his fork. “I’ll tell you what I’ve been thinking, Jennie,” he said finally. “There’s no use living this way any longer, if we’re going to stick it out. I’ve been thinking that we might take a house out in Hyde Park. It’s something of a run from the office, but I’m not much for this apartment life. You and Vesta would be better off for a yard. In that case you might bring your father on to live with us. He couldn’t do any harm pottering about; indeed, he might help keep things straight.” “Oh, that would just suit papa, if he’d come,” she replied. “He loves to fix things, and he’d cut the grass and look after the furnace. But he won’t come unless he’s sure I’m married.” “I don’t know how that could be arranged unless you could show the old gentleman a marriage certificate. He seems to want something that can’t be produced very well. A steady job he’d have running the furnace of a country house,” he added meditatively. Jennie did not notice the grimness of the jest. She was too busy thinking what a tangle she had made of her life. Gerhardt would not come now, even if they had a lovely home to share with him. And yet he ought to be with Vesta again. She would make him happy. She remained lost in a sad abstraction, until Lester, following the drift of her thoughts, said: “I don’t see how it can be arranged. Marriage certificate blanks aren’t easily procurable. It’s bad business—a criminal offense to forge one, I believe. I wouldn’t want to be mixed up in that sort of thing.” “Oh, I don’t want you to do anything like that, Lester. I’m just sorry papa is so stubborn. When he gets a notion you can’t change him.”