"If thatwere so, he would hardly have been such a fool as to give his partner hisaddress, " I retorted acidly. "Anyhow, there's one thing I'm positiveof, he didn't go away with anyone. He's not in love. Nothing is farther fromhis thoughts. "

There was apause while they reflected over my words.

"Well, ifwhat you say is true, " said Mrs. MacAndrew at last, "things aren'tso bad as I thought. "

Mrs. Stricklandglanced at her, but said nothing.

She was verypale now, and her fine brow was dark and lowering. I could not understand theexpression of her face. Mrs. MacAndrew continued:

"If it'sjust a whim, he'll get over it. "

"Why don'tyou go over to him, Amy?" hazarded the Colonel. "There's no reasonwhy you shouldn't live with him in Paris for a year. We'll look after thechildren. I dare say he'd got stale. Sooner or later he'll be quite ready tocome back to London, and no great harm will have been done. "

"Iwouldn't do that, " said Mrs. MacAndrew. "I'd give him all the ropehe wants. He'll come back with his tail between his legs and settle down againquite comfortably. " Mrs. MacAndrew looked at her sister coolly."Perhaps you weren't very wise with him sometimes. Men are queercreatures, and one has to know how to manage them. "

“如果是这种情况，他就不会做出那种傻事来，把自己的地址告诉他的伙友，”我以尖酸的口吻驳斥说，“不管怎么说，有一件事我绝对敢保证，他并不是同别人一块走的。他没有爱上谁。他的脑子里一点儿也没想到这种事。”

谈话中断了一会儿，他们在思索我这一番话。

“好吧，如果你说的是真的，”麦克安德鲁太太最后开口说，“事情倒不象我想的那么糟。”

思特里克兰德太太看了她一眼，没有吭声。她的脸色这时变得非常苍白，秀丽的眉毛显得很黑，向下低垂着。我不能理解她脸上的这种神情。

“你为什么不找他去啊，阿美？”上校出了个主意，“你完全可以同他一起在巴黎住一年。孩子由我们照管。我敢说他不久就会厌倦了。早晚有一天他会回心转意，准备回伦敦来。一场风波就算过去了。”

“要是我就不那么做，”麦克安德鲁太太说，“他爱怎么样我就让他怎么样。有一天他会夹着尾巴回家来，老老实实地过他的舒服日子。”说到这里，麦克安德鲁太太冷冷地看了她妹妹一眼。“你同他一起生活，也许有些时候太不聪明了。男人都是些奇怪的动物，你该知道怎样驾御他们。”