[...] and "Because he came down here this morning in a perfectly heavenly frame of mind. He has been in Boston to see about some repairs on his tenement-houses at the North End that I've been teasing him to make ever since the first of my being there last winter; and he came in this morning to say he thought I was right, and he was going to take hold and do what I wanted. and " and "Well? and " questioned Tom, as she broke off with a gesture of impatience. and "And after he 'd been down here for his sitting, he came back so cross and strange; and said he'd reconsidered, and he did n't see why he should bother his head about the worthless wretches in the slums. I can't see what came over him. and " and "But why should you hold me responsible for your cousin's vagaries? and " and "Oh, of course you are not, and " Celia replied, with a trace of petulance in her tone; and "but I am so dreadfully disappointed. Ralph has always put the whole thing off before, and now I thought he had really waked up. and " and "Probably, and " Claymore suggested, and "it is some new phase of his ill-starred love affair. and "[...].