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Rh "Yes, not so quick-tempered."

"That's all . . ."

"Yes, that's all. Tell me, Addie, tell me honestly: do people, as far as you know, still . . . talk about us . . . as much as they did?"

"I don't know, Dad. I don't bother about 'people.' I just go to school, you see. But I think . . ."

"Do they talk about Mamma?"

"No."

"Not at all?"

"I never hear anything."

"About me?"

"Yes."

"They talk about me?"

"Yes, they talk about you, Dad."

"What do they say?"

"They talk of you, Dad, and . . ."

"Well?"

"Marianne."

"She is going to Baarn . . . and then we sha'n't see each other any more. People are always ready to jabber . . . because I've gone cycling and motoring . . . with Marianne."

It was as though he were confessing and denying in the same breath.

"Addie," he continued, "I cycled a great way to-day."