The hot-water bottle was put in with him. Ernest patted his back, and said: "If it were not for Meggie's baby, she would be the very one! She would be perfect. She is almost perfect in every way."
"Yes," agreed Renny. "She is."
"Couldn't she get someone to look after the kid?" asked Eden.
"She has a sort of companion, but she'd never trust it to her entirely. She's a perfect mother." After a little he continued, hesitatingly: "Do you know, I have an idea. It may not be feasible, but"—he looked from one to the other—"but the whole affair is so unusual. . . ."
"What is your idea?" asked Renny.
"Oh, I'm afraid it would be impossible. We'd better not discuss it. We had better think of someone possible. . . . Eden, if the thought of a trained nurse is so intolerable to you, how would it do if we engaged some elderly woman who has had experience"
"I saw one on the street!" interrupted Eden. "Wonderful old body! Tatters, and a face like one of the Fates."
Renny asked of Ernest: "Do you think he's a little light in his head?"
Finch gave a muffled snort of laughter.
"Not at all," said Ernest. "You don't understand him, that is all. . . . Now the person I have in mind is Mrs. Patch. She is reliable. She has had experience in nursing"
Finch, unable to stop himself, interjected: "She ought to do. She's buried three of her own with T.B."
"Finch," said his uncle, sternly, "that remark was in very bad taste. I'm surprised at you!"
"Don't mind me," said Eden, faintly smiling. "Only please tell me about this idea of yours. Whom had you in mind?"
Ernest answered, looking, not at him, but at Renny: "I was wondering whether Alayne might be persuaded to nurse him."
This sudden mention of her name seemed to conjure Alayne's bodily presence before the occupants of the
