Several times, after that, Maisie was summoned to the lawyer’s office to
be bullied and cajoled. She came as promptly and obediently as if a
letter from him were an order from the Inquisition, but she would not
abjure.
One evening, when she came home, the baby was gone. She might have
protested against the illegality of her locked room being forcibly
entered; but, as the lawyer well knew, those who are not aware of their
rights are little better off than those who have none.
She came to his office early the next morning. He had expected her to
come. He had also expected her to be somewhat lacking in self-control,
but she was worse than he had imagined. He was very reasonable. He
explained that the child was now in the custody of its father, and she
would have to show cause why it should be removed therefrom. He hinted
that she would not find that easy to do.
“Now, then, my dear young woman,” said he, “you mustn’t be selfish. Your
child will be brought up with every possible advantage, and you shall
see her whenever you wish. Compare what her grandparents have to offer
her with the life that she would have with you. Your--er--young Mr.
Tracy has no money of his own, you know, and there is no way to force
any sort of--”
He saw with alarm that she was likely to become troublesome. She no
longer wept, but her mouth twitched and her eyes burned.
“Then let them give me the money to take care of the baby, instead of
their nurses!” she cried. “I’d do it all alone! The baby was always well
with me, and so happy you can’t think!”
It would have been convenient to expel this naughty child from school,
but it could not be done. She would not consent to write a letter
refusing to return to her husband. On the contrary, the mention of such
a thing caused her a most ludicrous hope. Perhaps Lester really wanted
to ask her, and these people were trying to stop him. She had strangely
little affection for him left. She was, in fact, perfectly indifferent
in regard to him; but if she got him, she would get the baby. That was
all she wanted.
Mrs. Tracy went to see her again.
“Now, my dear child,” she said, “you’re very young. For your own sake,
you don’t want to go on like this, married and yet not married. You want
to be free, so that you can make another choice, and, I hope, a happier
one.”
She went on to explain that if Maisie would only do as she was told, she
would soon have a dazzling freedom. She might marry again; she could do
exactly as she pleased.
Maisie had an ignorant fancy that she already possessed about as much
freedom as she was ever likely to get, and she said she didn’t want to
marry any one else.
“But I’ll do anything you want, if you’ll give me my baby,” she said.
She held firmly to that. Lester could have everything there
was--freedom, money, as many wives as a Turk; she wanted nothing but the
baby.
Mrs. Tracy desired and intended that her son should have everything
desirable, and the baby as well; and she felt sure that in time this
would come about. She had observed that everything comes to those who
can afford to wait. If poor people were simply let alone, their own
poverty would drown them.