It was the only really comfortable chair in the room.

He kept it for his moments of reflection.
Mrs.Lorimer sat down at his feet on the fender-curb, her tiny hand still clinging to his.

"This is a real treat," she said, laying her head against his knee with a gesture oddly girlish.

"It isn't often, is it, that we have it all to ourselves ?" "What is it you have to say to me ?" he enquired.
She drew his hand down gently over her shoulder, and held it against her cheek.

There fell a brief silence, then she said with a slight effort: "Your idea of a mother's help has worked wonderfully, Stephen.