“She’s certainly beautiful, your Gerda!” exclaimed the lady, after prolonged silence.

“She is,” admitted Wolf.

“But oh, dear! What an awful woman! Does she worry you much, my dabchick?”

“Worry me, Mother? Not one little bit! I very rarely see her, you know.”

There was another long pause between them.

“What’s going to happen when the History’s done, Wolf?”

“It may never be done, Mother! He’s got really interested in it at last, thank the Lord!”

“Wolf, dear⁠—”

“Well, Mother?”

“I wouldn’t let Gerda have a child for quite a long while yet.”