The one thing a wise man never does, is avoid a problem, and so Jake wasn't too wise when he concealed from Molly that Mrs Jerome was paying a visit. What Jake did was take Molly and Sammy walking, and since Rosie was at a friends, Mrs Jerome was bound to find an empty house. This was Jake's answer to the whole tangle of relations that was thrown up when Rosie fell in love with Mrs Jerome's engaged son...