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the table. He had a small notebook beside his plate, and his manner was preoccupied as he wrote into it at some length. Presently, he put the pen down, ate the rest of his breakfast - a few mouthfuls - and then, without looking directly at Estelle who was sitting across from him, he said, ‘I notice that hasn’t changed.’
    The woman had been watching him, waiting for him to finish his notation. His sudden words caught her by surprise. ‘What? 1 she asked.
    ‘Outfit or no, it’s still as hard to get a kid up as when I was young.’
    His wife was recovering. She smiled, but her voice was calm as she said, ‘Susan isn’t perfect about getting up, but she’s pretty good. She has so many duties, I wonder sometimes that she can stand it. It would drive me out of my mind.’
    Lane looked up, frowning, ‘Duties?’ he echoed.
    ‘For the outfit.’
    ‘Oh.’
    There was a tone to his voice that caused the blonde woman to look at ihim sharply. She said finally, ‘Now, remember what you agreed.’
    The expression on the man’s face showed that his thoughts and her words were not entirely in accord. He looked exasperated, then briefly cynical, and then his lips twisted ever so slightly, indicating that he hadn’t really agreed.
    But he said aloud, ‘I remember.’
    His voice sounded false. Estelle sighed. ‘Really, John’ - wearily
    'do we have to go over all this again? ’
    Lane shrugged. ‘You’re trying to imply something that does not exist.’
    ‘ You agreed - ‘
    ‘I agreed not to make a further issue of it with Susan,’ said Lane. ‘I didn’t agree to like it.’
    The woman’s eyes were abruptly misty. She took out her handkerchief hastily from her sleeve, and wiped her eyes Lane watched the little byplay impatiently, and then said in an irritated tone, ’For heaven’s sake, Estelle - ’
    ‘What I’m visualising,’ she said in an unsteady voice, ‘is you around here, sullen, going into silences - like you used to, whenever you didn’t get your own way. It just seems’ too much to look forward to after all these years.’
    Lane sat gazing at her. His shoulders sagged a little. It was the lame body response of helplessness that had briefly come over him the night before with Susan. But in the end he shook his head rejectingly. ‘ You’re hitting hard,’ he said. ‘I haven’t done any of those things yet.’
    She half sobbed, ‘I spent half the night fighting for the small concession that you finally made, and now it looks like you didn’t really concede anything,’
    ‘I agreed to wait,’ said Lane. ‘And I’m waiting. I’ll defer judgement until I hear the facts. But if Susan were to leave her outfit of her own free will, I can tell you it wouldn’t hurt my feelings any - the way I feel right now.’
    “What a strange remark!’ She stared at him. The grief was gone out of her as suddenly as it had come. Her face tightened with suspicion. ‘I can’t imagine what could be going on in the mind of someone who would say a thing like that.’
    ‘Estelle - let up!’ her husband protested. ‘I haven’t done any ’ thing. I give up. Have mercy.’
    The woman was still suspicious. ‘Can I trust you? ’
    ‘To do what I said - yes.’
    ‘All right.’ Her tone was still grudging, but her face changed. A smile brightened her eyes, and crinkle of lines around her mouth showed satisfaction. She said swifdy in an undertone, ‘I hear sounds. I do believe someone is coming.’
    There were indeed sounds. They came from the hallway beyond a door behind Lane. Lane listened for a moment, and then he shook his head, puzzled. ‘If I were to guess, it would be that a one-legged, hoofed anim al is approaching
    He had scarcely spoken when Susan came into view. She hopped into the room on one foot as she put her shoe onto the other foot. This complex operation required her to use only one hand. In the other hand she carried a booklet.
    The shoeing task completed. She put the raised foot down on