Doubtless he would open fire on Aunt Kate with--Why didn't his mother and father live in the same place any more, and--Why did he have to live half the time with mama if he'd rather stay all the time with father?
Poor Worth, he had only spent six years in a world of law and order, and had yet to learn about courts and incompatibilities and annoying things like that.

It did not seem fair that the hardest part of the whole thing should fall to poor little Wayne the Worthy.

He couldn't help it, certainly.
But how Worthie would love those collie pups! They would evolve all sorts of games to play with them.

Picturing herself romping with the boy and dogs, prowling about on the river in Wayne's new launch, lounging under those great oak trees reading good lazying books, doing everything because she wanted to and nothing because she had to, flirting just enough with Captain Prescott to keep a sense of the reality of life, she lay there gloating over the happy prospect.
And then in that most irresponsible and unsuspecting of moments something whizzed into her consciousness like a bullet--something shot by her vision pierced the lazy, hazy, carelessly woven web of imagery--bullet-swift, bullet-true, bullet-terrible--striking the center clean and strong.

The suddenness and completeness with which she sat up almost sent her from her place.