How can Mr Reardon do this if he shuts himself up in the house?
I should have thought he would find it necessary to make new acquaintances.' 'As I said,' returned Amy, 'it won't be always like this.

For the present, Edwin has quite enough "material."' She spoke distantly; it irritated her to have to invent excuses for the sacrifice she had just imposed on herself.

Edith sipped the tea which had been offered her, and for a minute kept silence.
'When will Mr Reardon's next book be published ?' she asked at length.
'I'm sure I don't know.

Not before the spring.' 'I shall look so anxiously for it.

Whenever I meet new people I always turn the conversation to novels, just for the sake of asking them if they know your husband's books.' She laughed merrily.
'Which is seldom the case, I should think,' said Amy, with a smile of indifference.
'Well, my dear, you don't expect ordinary novel-readers to know about Mr Reardon.