Page:The Fruit of the Tree (Wharton 1907).djvu/125

Rh shoulders of his evening-coat. Happily he had no inkling of these views, and was fortiﬁed in his command of the situation by an unimpaired conﬁdence in his own appearance; while Mr. Langhope, discreetly withdrawn behind a veil of cigar-smoke, let his silence play like a ﬁne criticism over the various phases of the discussion.

It was a surprise to Amherst to ﬁnd himself in Mr. Gaines’s presence. The President, secluded in his high ofﬁce, seldom visited the mills, and when there showed no consciousness of any presence lower than Truscomb’s; and Amherst’s ﬁrst thought was that, in the manager’s enforced absence, he was to be called to account by the head of the ﬁrm. But he was affably welcomed by Mr. Gaines, who made it clear that his ostensible purpose in coming was to hear Amherst’s views as to the proposed night-schools and nursery. These were pointedly alluded to as Mrs. Westmore’s projects, and the young man was made to feel that he was merely called in as a temporary adviser in Truscomb’s absence. This was, in fact, the position Amherst preferred to take, and he scrupulously restricted himself to the answering of questions, letting Mrs. Westmore unfold his plans as though they had been her own. “It is much better,” he reﬂected, “that they should all think so, and she too, for Truscomb will be on his legs again in a day or two, and then my hours will be numbered.” [ 111 ]