CHAPTER XX.
THE HUSBAND'S RETURN Gammon would gladly have answered in person Mrs.Clover's letter, but he had promised Polly that he would neither visit the china shop nor in any way communicate with her aunt.

Polly had made a great point of this, and he thought the reason was not far to seek; she still harboured jealousy of her cousin, and no doubt it would be delightful to make known, just how and when she herself saw fit, her triumph over Minnie.

So he kept away from Battersea Park Road, though often wishing to spend an evening there in the old way, with Mrs.Clover's bright face on one side of him and Minnie's modestly bent head on the other.
It would have been so restful after all this excitement, for however he tried to grasp the facts, Mrs.Clover and Minnie still seemed remote from the world of wealth and titles; he could not change their names or see them in any other position than that which was familiar and natural.

In talk with Polly he always rose to hilarious anticipations, partly the result of amorous fervour; but this mood did not survive their parting.

Alone he was frequently troubled with uneasiness, with misgiving, more so as the days went by without bringing any news from Greenacre.