A succession of tiny incidents had brought
light to him. Ruth might or might not be to some extent genuine in her
belief in the new system, but her chief motive for giving it her
support was something quite different. He had tried not to admit to
himself, but he could do so no longer. Ruth allowed Mrs. Porter to have
her way because it suited her to do so; because, with Mrs. Porter on
the premises, she had more leisure in which to amuse herself; because,
to put it in a word, the child had begun to bore her.
Everything pointed to that. In the old days it had been her chief
pleasure to be with the boy. Their walks in the park had been a daily
ceremony with which nothing had been allowed to interfere. But now she
always had some excuse for keeping away from him.
Her visits to the nursery, when she did go there, were brief and
perfunctory. And the mischief of it was that she always presented such
admirable reasons for abstaining from Bill's society, when it was
suggested to her that she should go to him, that it was impossible to
bring her out into the open and settle the matter once and for all.
Patience was one of the virtues which set off the defects in Kirk's
character; but he did not feel very patient now as he sat and watched
Bill playing on the floor.
"Well, Bill, old man, what do you make of it all?" he said at last.
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