“Oh, come in!” Mrs. Ernest smiled, seeing Nathan at the door. He opened the door wider, then rushed back to his car.

She was stunned to see him carrying Stephanie in bridal style; she was asleep. “She got tired and slept off. I think she needs it,” he explained.

Mrs. Ernest shrugged. She didn’t mind at all. She helped him to her room and arranged her bed for him to lay her there. “Thank you!”

Nathan bowed before coming down the stairs. Mrs. Ernest looked at her daughter, still in her party dress, so she began to take it off.

If she didn’t know her daughter very well, she'd say...