Page:Caroline Lockhart--The full of the Moon.djvu/258



now basked in the genial warmth of Hopedale's approval. Its citizens boasted of his trimnph over Spiser in no uncertain terms to those who had not been present, and tacitly agreed to overlook the fact that he changed his linen with incredible frequency and manicured his nails.

Edith was staying a few days as Nan's guest, and Ben lingered in Hopedale, though there was every reason why he should have returned to the ranch immediately after the trial.

No intelligent woman is pleased when a man neglects his work for her. Nothing so fills her with misgivings. Nan was an intelligent woman, and more, for she inherited something of her father's business acumen and instincts.

It disturbed her, irritated her, to see him linger when his vital interests were at stake—shamed her, too, because she knew that Bob 246