An Unmarried Father by Floyd Dell

AT breakfast, when Mrs. Overbeck had satisfied herself that her son's stomach was being properly ministered to, they talked -- Norman with some caution and embarrassment, but she with apparent ease. It gave Norman a queer feeling. One would not have thought from her manner that there was anything unusual, let alone irregular, in his situation. She inquired briefly and casually about Isabel (whom she referred to quite familiarly by that name, instead of by any hostile circumlocutions), and Norman was relieved to find that he need not make any further explanation in regard to her. His mother appeared to take Isabel's going to Paris for granted. She commented on Mrs. Case and her daughters. "They seemed rather flustered at my visit," she said. "They are all very fond of the baby," she added.

"Yes, they are," he said.