Mr. Leffington Feels Inspired 



been driving the Nut-Cracker more or less unin- 

 tentionally up and down the pike, Mrs. Rexford 

 had had a very good cry in Mrs. Leffington 's 

 room, in which Mrs. Leffington had joined her, 

 and by the time he reached home, both women 

 were in a softened and communicative mood. Of 

 course John Rexford 's name went unmentioned 

 whenever Mr. Leffington was present, as by 

 general consent, though Mrs. Leffington by 

 now had heard everything John Rexford had 

 done since the time he first met Gwendolyn, and 

 all the things good and bad, his mother had told 

 her about him when he was a boy. In the first 

 place Mrs. Rexford said John had humihated her 

 before all the stable, by peremptorily forbidding 

 her to jump her newest hunter over the paddock 

 gate. And one evening he had actually not come 

 home for dinner without even telephoning and 

 there were other things, — but enough, — Mrs. 

 Rexford wept copiously on Mrs. Leffington's 

 sympathetic shoulder. 



Mr. Leffington's hard-bitten look and six feet 

 of bone and sinew made a very striking figure in a 

 pink coat, white breeches and topboots, and for 

 the time being he exercised very much the same 

 amount of power, and commanded as much respect 

 as the captain of a ship. Even Mrs. Leffington 

 then never dared use quite the same tone as she 

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