English fiction -- 20th century; Humorous stories, English; Short stories, English
When the child and I were alone together, I knelt by his cradle and
surveyed his features earnestly. I wanted to see what it was he had to
offer Myra which I could not give her. "This," I said to myself, "is the
face which has come between her and me," for it was unfortunately true
that I could no longer claim Myra's undivided attention. But the more I
looked at him the more mysterious the whole thing became to me.
"Not a bad kid?" said a voice behind me.
I turned and saw Archie.
"Yours, I believe," I said, and I waved him to the cradle.
Archie bent down and tickled the baby's chin, making appropriate noises
the while--one of the things a father has to learn to do.
"Who do you think he's like?" he asked proudly.
"The late Mr. Gladstone," I said, after deep thought.
"Wrong. Hallo, here's Dahlia coming out. I hope, for your sake, that the
baby's all right. If she finds he's caught measles or anything, you'll
get into trouble."
By a stroke of bad luck the child began to cry as soon as he saw the
ladies. Myra rushed up to him.
"Poor little darling," she said soothingly. "Did his uncle by marriage
frighten him, then?"
"Don't listen to her, Dahlia," I said. "I haven't done anything to him.
We were chatting together quite amicably until he suddenly caught sight
of Myra and burst into tears."
"He's got a little pain," said Dahlia gently taking him up and patting
him.
"I think the trouble is mental," suggested Archie. "He looks to me as if
he had something on his conscience. Did he say anything to you about it
when you were alone?"
"He didn't say much," I confessed, "but he seemed to be keeping
something back. I think he wants a bit of a run, really."
"Poor little lamb," said Dahlia. "There, he's better now, thank you."
She looked up at Archie and me. "I don't believe you two love him a
bit."
Archie smiled at his wife and went over to the tea-table to pour out. I
sat on the grass and tried to analyse my feelings to my nephew by
marriage.
"As an acquaintance," I said, "he is charming; I know no one who is
better company. If I cannot speak of his more solid qualities, it is
only because I do not know him well enough. But to say whether I love
him or not is difficult; I could tell you better after our first
quarrel. However, there is one thing I must confess. I am rather jealous
of him."
"You envy his life of idleness?"
"No, I envy him the amount of attention he gets from Myra. The love she
wastes on him which might be better employed on me is a heartrending
thing to witness. As her betrothed I should expect to occupy the premier
place in her affections, but, really, I sometimes think that if the baby
and I both fell into the sea she would jump in and save the baby first."
"Don't talk about his falling into the sea," said Dahlia, with a
shudder; "I can't a-bear it."
"I think it will be all right," said Archie, "I was touching wood all
the time."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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