"Don't worry, my dear," John said kindly; "the gods are surely tender with the good." "But she won't grow old," Helen said earnestly. "I don't believe she could grow old. It would be terrible." And it was of Mildred Caniper and not of herself she thought. CHAPTER XV Mildred Caniper was wearing her deaf expression when they went into the house, and getting supper ready as a form of reproof. John was another of her failures. He had chosen work she despised for him, and now, though it was impossible to despise Lily Brent, it was impossible not to disapprove of such a marriage for a Caniper. But when she was helpless, Mrs. Caniper had learnt to preserve her pride in suavity, and as they sat down to supper she remarked that she would call on Lily Brent tomorrow. "How funny!" Helen said at once. Miriam darted a look meant to warn Helen that Notya was in no mood for controversy, and John frowned in readiness to take offence. "Why funny?" he growled. "I was just wondering if Notya would put on a hat and gloves to do it." She turned to Mildred Caniper. "Will you?" "I'm afraid I have not considered such a detail." "None of us," Helen went on blandly, "has ever put on a hat to go to the farm. I should hate any of us to do it. Notya, you can't." "You forget," Mildred Caniper said in her coldest tones, "that I have not been accustomed to going there." "Well, do notice Lily's primroses," Helen said pleasantly. "They're like sunshine, and she's like--" "No, please," John begged. "I wonder why Rupert has not come to supper," Mildred Caniper said, changing the subject, and Helen wondered pityingly why one who had known unhappiness should not be eager to spare others. "But," Miriam began, her interest overcoming dread of her stepmother's prejudices, "we shall have to wear hats for John's wedding. I shall have a new one and a new dress, a dusky blue, I think, with a sheen on it." "Did you mention my wedding?" John asked politely. "Yes. And a peacock's feather in my hat. No, that's unlucky, but so beautiful." "Nothing beautiful," Helen said, "can be unlucky." "I wouldn't risk it. But what can I have?" "For my wedding," John announced, "you'll have nothing, unless you want to sit alone in the garden in your new clothes. You're not going to be present at the ceremony. Good Lord! I'll have Rupert and Daniel for witnesses, and we'll come home in time to do the milking, but there'll be no show. It would make me sick." "Not even a party?" "What the--what on earth should we have a party for?" "For fun, of course. Daniel and Zebedee and us." She leaned towards him. "And George, John, just to show that all's forgiven!" To see if she had dared too much, she cast a glance at Mildred Caniper, but that lady sat in the stillness of determined indifference. "Not one of you!" John said. "It's our wedding, and we're going to do what we like with it."