Mamma says she won't feel able. What do you say?"
Missy didn't care a whit to hear the disgusting Dobson, but she felt
the reason for her reluctance mightn't be understood--might even
arouse hateful merriment, for Aunt Nettie was sitting there
listening. So she said evasively:
"I think mother wants me to work on my thesis."
"Oh, I can fix it with mother all right," said father.
Missy started to demur further but, so listless was her spirit, she
decided it would be easier to go than to try getting out of it. She
wouldn't have to pay attention to the detestable Dobson; and she
always loved to go places with father.
And it was pleasant, after he had "fixed it" with mother, to walk
along the dusky streets with him, her arm tucked through his as if
she were a grown-up. Walking with him thus, not talking very much
but feeling the placidity and sense of safety that always came over
her in father's society, she almost forgot the offensive celebrity
awaiting them in the Opera House.
Afterward Missy often thought of her reluctance to go to that
lecture, of how narrowly she had missed seeing Dobson.
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