CHAPTER IV
It was, of course, as inevitable as the return of day that Mrs. Altham should start half-an-hour earlier than was necessary to go to church that morning, in order to return to Mrs. Brooks, who had been dining last night at the Ames’, a couple of books that had been lent her a month or two ago, and that Mrs. Brooks should recount to her the unusual incident of Harry’s taking Mrs. Evans into the garden after dinner, and giving her a gradually growing bouquet of roses torn from his father’s trees. Indeed, it was difficult to settle satisfactorily which part of Harry’s conduct was the most astounding, with such completeness had he revolted against both beneficiaries of the fifth commandment.
“They can’t have been out in the garden for less than twenty minutes,” said Mrs. Brooks; “
