“’Pon my word!” She could not hear him say it, but she saw his lips form the phrase and noted his pleased surprise. He came forward at once, smiling broadly, pushing his way through the women who gave place to him.
“Glad to see you, Miss Sturgis,” he said beaming. “Only, by Jove, you’re not ‘Miss Sturgis’ any more! ... ‘Devlin,’ isn’t it? ... Does Mr. Corey know you’re here? He’ll be delighted, I know. Wants to see you badly. Two or three matters have come up he’d like to ask you about; nobody ’round here seems to know a thing about them.... Come in; he’ll be mighty glad to see you.”
He pulled back the swing gate in the counter and walked with her towards Mr. Corey’s office.
As Jeannette passed within a few feet of Miss Holland’s desk and as their eyes met she mouthed:
“Here’s an old friend of ours,” said Mr. Allister, opening Mr. Corey’s door.
The white head came up, and immediately a pleased flush spread over the face of the man at the desk.
“Well--well--well,” he said, getting to his feet and coming to take both her hands. “Miss Sturgis! It’s good to see you again.”
“She’s not Miss Sturgis any more,” laughed Mr. Allister.
“That’s so--that’s so; it’s ‘Devlin’ of course. Well, Mrs. Devlin, you surely look as though marriage agreed with you.”
They were all laughing in good spirits. A few moments of inconsequential remarks, and then Allister withdrew while Mr. Corey made Jeannette sit down.
“Oh, I must have a talk,” he insisted, “and hear all about you.”
The door opened, and young Tommy Livingston came in with a question on his lips. His eyes lighted as he recognized the caller.
“Oh, is that _so_?” Jeannette was pleased; the boy had always been a protégé of hers. “Well, Tommy, this _is_ a step up for you!”
“Yes, indeed,” he said grinning. “I’m doing the best I know how....”
“Tommy does very well,” approved Mr. Corey.
“I didn’t know you understood dictation,” said Jeannette.
“I don’t very well. I’ve got a stenographer in my office,--’member Miss Bates?--and I’m going to night school and learning shorthand; I can run a machine fairly decently now.”
Presently she was alone with Mr. Corey again. He asked about her, about Martin, about her married life. She was frank with her answers.