On those rare occasions of stress when Mrs. Milo did not choose to feel
that the unforeseen and unpleasant was aimed purposely at herself and
her happiness, she could assume another attitude. It was then her
special boast that she was able invariably to summon the proper word
that could smooth away embarrassments, lessen strain, and in general
relieve any situation: she knew how to be tactful; how to make peace:
she had, she explained, that rare quality known as "poise."
Now with Clare Crosby swagging against the double door of Tottie's
back-parlor, watching Farvel through despairing eyes, and admitting
with trembling lips her own defeat; with Farvel seemingly overcome by
being brought thus suddenly face to face with the soloist, Mrs. Milo
experienced such complete satisfaction that she seized upon this
opportunity as one well calculated to exhibit strikingly her judgment,
balance, and sagacity; her good taste and pious gentleness.
"Ah, Mr. Farvel!" she cried, in that playfully teasing tone she was
often pleased to affect. "Aren't you glad you came?--Oh, I guessed
your little secret! I guessed you were interested in Miss Crosby!"
At the sound of her own name, Clare took her eyes from Farvel and
turned them upon Mrs. Milo--turned them slowly, as a sick person
might--with effort, and an almost feeble lifting of the head. Her look
once focused, she began, little by little, to straighten, to stand more
firmly on her feet; she even reached to flatten the starched collar,
which had upreared behind her slender throat.
Mrs. Milo went twittering on: "Where you're concerned, trust us to be
anxious, dear Mr. Farvel. That's how we came to guess. _Isn't_ it, my
daughter?"
Sue did not move. "Yes, mother," she answered obediently; "yes."
Farvel got up. "Mrs. Milo," he began, "I intend to be quite frank with
you all. And I feel I ought to tell you that this young woman----"
"Alan!"
It was Clare who protested, almost in a scream, and with a forward
start which Wallace also made--involuntarily.
Farvel shook his head and threw out both hands in a helpless gesture.
"They'd better hear all about it," he said.
"You listen to me!" she returned. "This is nobody's business but ours.
Do you understand? Just ours."
Mrs. Milo interrupted, with an ingratiating smile. "Still, Mr. Farvel
is the Rector of our Church. Naturally, he wishes to be quite
above-board"--she laid emphasis on the words--"even in his personal
affairs."
"No!" Clare came past Farvel, taking her stand between him and Mrs.
Milo almost defensively. "No, I tell you! No! No! No!"
Sue went to her mother. "Miss Crosby is right," she urged quietly.
"This is a private matter between her and Mr. Farvel. It goes back
quite a way in their lives, doesn't it?" She turned to the clergyman.
"Before you came to the Rectory, and before mother and I knew you? So
it can't be anything that concerns us, and we haven't any right to
know"--this as Mrs. Milo seemed about to protest again. "I'm right,
mother. And we're going--both of us."
"We-e-e-ll,"--it was Farvel, uncertain, and troubled.
"Alan, not now," broke in Wallace; "--later."
"May _I_ have another word?" inquired Mrs. Milo, with an inflection
that said she had so far been utterly excluded from voicing her
opinions. "Mr. Farvel,----"
But Clare did not wait for the clergyman to give his permission. "I
say no," she repeated defiantly. And to Farvel, "Please consider me,
will you? I'm not going to have a lot of hypocrites gossiping about
me!"--this with a pointed stare at the elder woman.
"And, Alan, you said yourself,"--it was Wallace again--"there'll be
talk. You don't want that."
Balcome, standing behind Wallace, suddenly laid a hand on his arm.
"Say, what's _your_ part in this trouble?" he demanded. "You seem
excited."
"Why--why--I haven't any part."
Balcome shrugged, and flopped the big hat. "Not any, eh?" he said.
"Hm!" By a lift of his eyebrows, and a jerk of the head, he invited
Farvel to take a good look at Wallace.
Farvel seemed suddenly to waken. He shook a pointed finger. "You knew
she was alive!" he declared.
"He didn't! He did not!" Again Clare was fiercely on the defense.
"No! On my honor!" vowed Wallace.
Sue made a warning gesture. "Listen, everybody," she cautioned.
"Suppose we go back to the Rectory." And to Clare, "You and Mr. Farvel
can talk with more privacy there."
A quick hand touched her. "Susan," whispered Mrs. Milo.
She had support in her protest. "_I'm_ not going back to any Rectory,"
Clare asserted.
"Back?" repeated Farvel, astonished. "_Back_? Then you--you were the
soloist?"
"Yes.--Oh, _why_ did I go! Why didn't I ever find out! Milo--it isn't
a common name. And I might have known! I'm a fool! A fool! But I
needed the engagement. And I'd been there before, and I thought it was
all right."
"What has 'Milo' to do with it?" asked Sue.
"This--this: I knew that Wallace knew Alan. So--so when I saw Wallace
there, I was sure Alan was there. And I left. That's all." She went
back to the chair by the table and sat.
"You walked right into my house!" marveled Farvel; "--after all the
years I've searched for you!"
"Ha! ha!--Just my luck!" She crossed her feet and folded her arms.
There was a pause.
Wallace was plainly in misery, at times holding his breath, again
almost blowing, like a man after a run. He shifted uneasily. The
sweat stood out on his white temples, and he brushed the drops into his
hair.
Of a sudden, Farvel turned to him. "Why didn't you tell me it was
Laura?" he demanded. "You saw her there--you came here--why didn't you
ask me to come?"
"Well," faltered Wallace, "I--I don't know why I didn't. I'm sorry.
It was just--just----" His voice seemed to go from him. He swallowed.
Now, Farvel's manner changed. His face darkened, and grew stern.
"There's something here that I don't understand," he said, angrily.
Clare sprang up. "Oh, drop it, will you?" she asked rudely; "--before
all this crowd."
Farvel turned on her fiercely. "No, I won't drop it! I want this
thing cleared up!" And to Wallace again, "For ten years you know how
I've searched. And in the beginning, you know better than anyone else
in the whole world how I suffered. And yet today, when you found
Laura, you failed to tell me--_me_, of _all_ persons!" His voice rose
to a shout. "Why, it's monstrous!"
"And I want this thing cleared up, too," put in Balcome. "Wallace,
you're going to marry my daughter. Why did you lie to me about this
young woman's name?"
Mrs. Milo went to take her place beside her son. "Do you mean," she
demanded, "that you're both trying to find my dear boy at fault?--to
cover someone else's wrongdoing." She stared at Farvel defiantly.
"Please, mother!" Wallace pushed her not too gently aside. Then he
faced the other men, his features working with the effort of control.
"Well, it--it was for--for Miss Crosby's sake," he explained. "I knew
she didn't want to be found--I knew it because she was so scared when
she saw me, and ran. And--and then Hattie; you know Hattie's never
cared an awful lot for me. And I was afraid--I was afraid she
might--she might wonder----" He choked.
"_Hattie,_" repeated Balcome.
A strange look came into Farvel's eyes. "What has Miss Balcome to do
with it?" he asked.
"Nothing! Nothing!"--it was Clare. She gave Wallace a warning glance.
"I thought it might worry her," he added, weakly.
Farvel seemed to sense a falsehood. "You can't convince me," he said.
"You've known the truth all along--ever since she went away. And you
know why she went.--Don't you? _Don't_ you?" Again his voice rose.
He advanced almost threateningly.
"No! No! I swear it!"
"No!" echoed Clare.
"This is disgraceful!" cried Mrs. Milo, appealing to Balcome.
"Oh, go home, mother!" entreated her son, ungratefully.
Sue added her plea. "Yes, let's all go. Because you're all speaking
pretty loud, and our hostess is a lady of considerable curiosity.
Come--let's return to the Rectory."
"Susan!" stormed Mrs. Milo. Then, more quietly, "Please think of your
mother's wishes. Mr. Farvel and Mr. Balcome are right. Let us clear
up this matter before we return."
Clare burst into a loud laugh. "Ha-a-a! Talk about curiosity!" she
mocked. And went back to her chair.
Sue reddened under the taunt. "Well, I, for one, don't wish to know
your private affairs," she declared. "So I'm going."
"Susan!--You may leave the room if you desire to do so. But you will
remain within call."
"I'd rather go home, mother."
"You will obey me."
"Very well."
"Mm!" Mrs. Milo, plainly gratified, seated herself in the rocker.
"If there's anything I can do for you, Miss Crosby, just ask me." Sue
forbore looking at Farvel. She was pale again now, as if with
weariness. But she smiled.
Clare did not even look round. Beside her was the canary, his shining
black eyes keeping watch on the group of strangers as he darted from
cage bottom to perch, or hung, fluttering and apprehensive, against the
wires of his home. Clare lifted the cage to her knee and encircled it
with an arm.
Balcome caught Sue's eye, made a comical grimace, and patted her on the
arm. "As this seems to concern my girl," he explained, "I'm here to
stay." He dropped into a chair by the hearth.
Sue went out.
Clare was quite herself by now. She disdained to look at anyone save
Farvel, and the smile she gave him over a shoulder was scornful.
"Well, shoot!" she challenged. "Let's not take all day."
"Why did you leave without a word?" he asked.
"You mean today?--I told you."
"I mean ten years ago."
"Well, if you want to know, I was tired of being cooped up, so I dug
out."
"Cooped up!" exclaimed Farvel, bitterly.
"I guess you know it! And Church! Church! Church! And prayers three
times a day! And a small town! Oh, it was _deadly_!"
"No other reason?" asked Farvel, coldly.
She got up, suddenly impatient. "I've told you the truth!" she cried.
Then more quietly, seeing how white and drawn he looked, "I'm sorry it
worried you." She set the cage on a chair near the double door.
"Worried!" echoed Farvel, bitterly. "Ha! ha!" And with significance,
"And who was concerned in your going?"
"That's a nice thing for you to insinuate!" she returned hotly.
"I beg your pardon."
Mrs. Milo fell to rocking nervously. She was enjoying the situation to
the full; still--the attitude of Farvel toward this young woman was far
from lover-like; while her attitude toward him was marked by hatred
badly disguised. Hence an unpleasant and unwelcome thought: What if
this "Laura" turned out to be only a relative of the clergyman's!
Farvel's apology moved Clare to laughter. "Oh, that's all right," she
assured him, impudently; "I understand. The more religious people are,
you know, the more vile are their suspicions"--this with a mocking
glance at Mrs. Milo.
The green velour rocker suddenly stood still, and Mrs. Milo fairly
glared at the girl. Clare, seeing that she had gained the result she
sought, grinned with satisfaction, and resumed her chair.
Farvel had not noticed what passed between the two women. He was
watching Wallace. "And you----" he began presently.
The younger man straightened, writhed within his clothes as if he were
in pain, and went back to his stooping position once more--all with
that swiftness which was so like the effect of an electrical current.
"Alan," he whispered.
"--What had you to do with it?" went on the clergyman.
Clare scoffed. "Wallace had nothing to do with it," she declared.
"What in the dickens is the matter with you?"
"Nothing to do with it?" repeated Farvel. Then, with sudden fury,
"Look at him!" He made for Wallace, pushing aside a chair that was not
in his way.
"Alan! Stop!" Clare rose, and Mrs. Milo rose, too.
"Come now, Wallace," Farvel said more quietly. "I want the truth."
Mrs. Milo hastened to her son. "Darling, I know you haven't done
anything wrong," she said, tenderly. "This 'friend' is trying to shift
the blame. Stand up for yourself, my boy. Mother believes in you."
Wallace's chin sank to his breast. At the end of his long arms, his
hands knotted and unknotted like the hands of a man in agony.
"My dearest!" comforted his mother. His suffering was evidence of
guilt to Balcome and Farvel; to her it was grief, at having been put
under unjust suspicion.
He lifted a white face. His eyes were streaming now, his whole body
trembling pitifully. "Oh, what'll I do!" he cried. "What'll I do!"
He tottered to the chair that Farvel had shoved aside, dropped into it,
and covered his face with both hands.
"My boy! My boy!"
"Don't act like a baby!" Clare came to him, and gave him a smart slap
on the shoulder. "Cut it out! You haven't done anything."
"Just a moment," interrupted Farvel. He shoved her out of the way as
impersonally as he had the chair. Then, "What do you mean by 'What'll
do'?" he demanded. And to Clare, pulling at his arm, "Let me alone, I
tell you. I'm going to know what's back of this!--_Wallace Milo_!"
Slowly Wallace got up. His cheeks were wet. His mouth was distorted,
like the mouth of a woeful small boy. His throat worked spasmodically,
so that the cords stood out above his collar.
Clare defended him fiercely. "What've you got into your head?" she
asked Farvel. "You're wrong! You're dead wrong!--Wallace, tell him
he's wrong!"
Wallace shook his head. "No," he said, striving to speak evenly; "no,
I won't. All these years I've suffered, too. I've wanted to make a
clean breast of it a million times--to get it off my conscience. Now,
I can. I"--he braced himself to go on--"I was at the Rectory so much,
Alan. I think that's how--it started. And--and she was nice to me,
and I--I liked her. And we were almost the same age. So----" He
could go no further. With a gesture of agonized appeal, he sank to his
knees. "Oh, Alan, forgive me!" he sobbed. "Forgive----"
There could be no doubt of his meaning--of the character of his
confession. Farvel bent over him, seizing an arm. "Get on your feet!"
he shouted. "Get up! Get up, I tell you! I'm going to knock you
down!"
"Oh, help! Help!" wept Mrs. Milo, appealing to Balcome, who came
forward promptly.
"Farvel!" he admonished. He got between the two men.
Clare was dragging at Farvel. "Blame me!" she cried. "I was older!
Blame me!"
Farvel pushed her aside. "Don't try to shield him!" he answered.
"He's a dog! A dog!"
A loud voice sounded from the hall. It was Tottie, storming
virtuously. "I won't have it!" she cried. "This is my house, and I
won't have it!"
Another voice pleaded with her--"Now wait! Please!"
"I'm goin' in there," asserted the landlady. She came pounding against
the hall door, opened it, and entered, her bobbed hair lifting and
falling with the rush of her coming. "Say! What do you call this,
anyhow?" she demanded, shaking off the hand with which Sue was
attempting to restrain her.
"Keep out of here," ordered Balcome, advancing upon her boldly.
She met him without flinching. "I won't have no knock-down and
drag-out in my house!" she declared. "This is a respectable----"
"Oh, I'm used to tantrums," he retorted. And without more ado, he
forced Miss St. Clair backward into the hall, followed her, and shut
himself as well as her out of the room.
"I'll have you arrested for this!" she shrilled.
"Oh, shut up!"
Their voices mingled, and became less audible.
"You can't blame her," said Sue. "Really, from out there, it sounded
suspiciously like murder." She stared at her brother. He was not
kneeling now, but half-sitting, half-lying, in an awkward sprawl, at
Farvel's feet, much as if he had thrown himself down in a fit of temper.
Farvel turned to her. His face was set. His eyes were dull, as if a
glaze was spread upon them. His hands twitched. But he spoke quietly.
"Get this man out of here," he directed, "or I _shall_ kill him."
"Oh, go! Go!" pleaded Mrs. Milo.
"Go!" added Clare. She threw herself into the chair at the table, put
her arms on the cloth, and her face in her arms.
Sue ran to Wallace, took his arm and tugged at it, lifting him. He
stumbled up, still weeping a little, but weakly. As she turned him
toward the hall, he put an arm across her shoulders for support.
Mrs. Milo followed them. She was not in the dark as to the nature of
her son's tearful admission. But she had no mind to blame him.
Resorting to her accustomed tactics, she put Farvel in the wrong. "I
never should have trusted my dear boy to you," she cried. "I thought
he would be under good influences in a clergyman's house. Only
eighteen, and you make him responsible!"
The door opened, and Balcome was there. He looked at Wallace not
unkindly. "Pretty tough luck, young man," he observed.
At sight of Balcome, Mrs. Milo remembered the wedding. "Oh!" she
gasped. And turning about to Farvel in a wild appeal, "Oh, Hattie!
Think of poor Hattie! Won't you forget yourself in this? Won't you
help us to keep it all quiet? Oh, we mustn't ruin her life!" She
returned to the rocker, her fingers to her eyes, as if she were
pressing back the tears.
Balcome had come in, closing the door. He crossed to Farvel, his big,
blowzy face comical in its gravity. "Mr. Farvel," he said, "whatever
concerns that young man concerns my--little girl." He blinked with
emotion. "So--so that's why I ask, who is this young woman?"
Before Farvel could reply, Clare lifted her head, stood suddenly, and
stared Balcome from his disheveled hair to his wide, soft, well-worn
shoes. "Oh, allow me, Alan!" she cried. "You know, they're just about
to burst, both of 'em!"--for Mrs. Milo was peering at her over a
handkerchief, the blue eyes bright with expectancy. "If they don't
know the worst in five seconds, there'll be an explosion sure!" She
laughed harshly. Then with mock ceremony, and impudently, "Mr.
Balcome,--and _dear_ Mrs. Milo, permit me to introduce myself. I am
your charming clergyman's beloved bride." She curtsied.
No explosion could have brought Mrs. Milo to her feet with more
celerity. While Balcome stumbled backward, the red of his countenance
taking on an apoplectic greenish tinge.
"_Bride?_" he cried.
"_Wife?_" gasped Mrs. Milo, hollowly.
But almost instantly the blue eyes lighted with a smile. She put back
her bonneted head to regard Clare from under lowered lashes. "Ah!" she
sighed in relief. No longer was there need to fear publicity for her
son; here was a situation that insured against it.
"Yes, you feel better, don't you?" commiserated Clare, sarcastically.
"--Tuh!"
Balcome was blinking harder than ever. "Well, I'll be damned!" he
vowed under his breath.
By now Mrs. Milo's smile had grown into a clear, joyous, well-modulated
laugh. "Oh, ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!--Wife!" she exulted. "That is most
interesting! Hm!--And it changes everything, doesn't it?"--this to no
one in particular. She reseated herself, studying the floor
thoughtfully, finding her glasses meanwhile, and tapping a finger with
them gently. "Hm!--Ah!--Yes."
Balcome replied to her, and with no idea of sparing her feelings.
"Yes, that puts quite a different face on things," he agreed; "--on
what Wallace has done. The home of his best friend!"
"Let's not talk about it!" begged Farvel.
"All right, Mr. Farvel," answered Balcome, soothingly. "But my
Hattie's happiness--that's what I'm thinking of." He came nearer to
Clare now. "And before I go," he said to her, "I'd like to ask you one
more question."
"Oh, you would!" she retorted ironically. "Well, I'm not going to
answer any more questions. I've got a lot to do. And I want to be let
alone." She made as if to go.
"Wait!" commanded Farvel.
She flushed angrily. "Well? Well? Well?" she demanded, her voice
rising.
"We shan't trouble you again," assured the clergyman, more kindly.
"Then spit it out!" she cried to Balcome. "I want to know," began
Balcome, eyeing her keenly, "just whose child that is?"
It was Farvel's turn to gasp. "Child?" he echoed.
Mrs. Milo straightened against the green velours. "A child?" she said
in turn.
"You know who I mean," declared Balcome, not taking his look from
Clare. "That little girl who called you Auntie."
She tried to speak naturally. "That--that--she's a friend's child--a
friend's child from up-State."
"You told us she was your sister's child," persisted Balcome.
She took refuge in a burst of temper. "Well, what if I did? I'm
liable to say anything--to you!"
There was a pause. Farvel watched Clare, but she looked down, not
trusting herself to meet his eyes. As for Balcome, he had reached a
conclusion that did not augur well for the happiness of his daughter.
And his gaze wandered miserably.
Curiously enough, not a hint occurred to Mrs. Milo that this new turn
of affairs might have some bearing on her son. She found her voice
first. "Ah, Mr. Balcome," she said sadly, nodding as she put away her
glasses, "it's just as I told Sue: it's always the same story when a
girl drops out of sight!"
"Oh, is that so!" returned the younger woman, wrathfully. "Well, it
just happens, madam, that I was married."
"Laura!" entreated Farvel. "You mean--you mean the child is--ours?"
She tossed her head. "Is it bad news?" she asked.
Farvel's shoulders were shaking. "A-a-a-ah!" he murmured. He fumbled
for a handkerchief, crumbled it, and held it against his face.
"My dear Mrs. Farvel," began Mrs. Milo, in her best manner, "believe me
when I say that I'm very glad to hear all this. I know what the
temptations of this great city are, and naturally----" She got up. "A
reunited family, Mr. Farvel," she said, smiling graciously. "Oh, Susan
will be so pleased!" She fluttered toward the door, "So pleased!"
Clare gave a hissing laugh. "Oh, how that news will scatter!" she
exclaimed. And flounced into her chair.
Mrs. Milo was calling into the hall. "Susan! Susan dear!"
"On guard!" Sue was part way up the stairs, seated.
"Just a moment, my daughter." Leaving the door wide, Mrs. Milo came
fluttering back. "It really didn't surprise me," she declared, with a
wise nod at Balcome. "I half guessed a marriage."
"Hope for the worst!" mocked Clare.
Sue came in, with a quick look around. "Are you ready to go, mother?"
"You bet, mother is _not_ ready to go,"--this Clare, under her breath.
"My dear," said her mother, sweetly, "we have called you in to tell you
some good news."
Sue smiled. "I could manage to bear up under quite a supply of good
news." Farvel was brushing at his eyes. His face was averted, but she
guessed that he had been crying.
"First of all, Susan, Miss Crosby is----"
"Now, mother, does Miss Crosby want----"
"Wa-a-ait! Please! It is something she wishes you to know.--Am I
right?" This with that characteristic smile so wholly muscular.
"Right as the mail!" assured Clare, ironically again, and borrowing an
expression learned from Hull.
"Ah! Thank you!--Susan, Miss Crosby is not Miss Crosby at all. She is
married.--I'm so glad your husband has found you, my dear."
"Found? You--you don't mean----" There was a frightened look in Sue's
eyes.
Her mother misunderstood the look. "Yes, lucky Mr. Farvel," she said,
beaming. Then with precision, since Sue seemed not to comprehend,
"Mrs.--Alan--Farvel."
"I--see."
"Didn't I practically guess that Mr. Farvel was married?"
"Married,"--it was like an echo.
"And I was right!"
"Yes, mother,--yes--you're--you're always right."
"Mr. Farvel, we congratulate you!--Don't we, dear?"
"Congratulations."
Something in Sue's face made Farvel reach out his hand to her. She
took it mechanically. Thus they stood, but not looking at each other.
Once more Mrs. Milo was playfully teasing. "Why shouldn't we all know
that you had a wife?" she twittered. It was as if she had added, "You
bad, bad boy!"
"Yes," said Sue. "Why not? Rectors do have them. There's no canon
against it." She laughed tremulously, and dropped his hand.
Clare tossed her head. "There ought to be!" she declared.
At that, Mrs. Milo threw out both arms dramatically. "Oh! Oh, dear!"
she cried. "I've just thought of something!"
"I'll bet!" Clare turned, instantly apprehensive.
"Save it, mother!" begged Sue, eager to avert whatever might be
impending; "--save it till we get home. Come! Mr. and Mrs. Farvel
will have things to talk over." And to the clergyman, "We'll take Mr.
Balcome and go on ahead."
"Now wait!" bade Mrs. Milo, gently. "Why are you so impetuous,
daughter? Why don't you listen to your mother? Why do you take it for
granted that I want to make Mrs. Farvel unhappy?"--this in a chiding
aside.
"I don't, mother."
"Indeed, I am greatly concerned about her. She believed her husband
dead, poor girl. And now"--with a sudden, disconcerting turn on
Clare--"what about your engagement?"
"I'm--I'm not engaged!" As she sprang up, the girl pressed both hands
against the wine-colored velveteen of her skirt, hiding them. "I never
said I was! Oh, I wish you'd mind your own business!"
"Mother! Mother!" pleaded Sue. "It was you who said it. Not
Miss--Mrs. Farvel. Don't you remember?"
"How _could_ I be engaged?" She was emboldened by Sue's help. "I knew
he wasn't--dead."
Farvel laughed a little bitterly. "You mean, no such luck, don't you,
Laura?" he asked. "Well, then,--I've got some good news for you."
"What? What?"--with a sudden, eager movement toward him.
"When five years had passed, and no word had come from you, though we
all felt that you were alive, your brother--in order to settle the
estate--had you declared legally dead. And naturally, that--that----"
"I'm free!" She put up both hands, and lifted her face--almost as if
in prayerful thanksgiving. "I'm free! I'm free!" Then she gave way
to boisterous laughter, and fell to walking to and fro, waving her
arms, and turning her head from side to side. "I'm dead, but I'm free!
Oh, ha! ha! ha!--Well, that _is_ good news! Free! And _you're_ free!"
"No, I am not free," he said quietly. "But it doesn't matter."
"You are free," she protested. "Anyhow, I'm not going to let any of
that nonsense stand in my way. And don't you--church or no church.
Life's too short." Her manner was hurried. She caught at Farvel's
arm. "We're both free, Alan, so there's nothing more to say, is there?
Except, good-by. Good-by, Alan,----"
Mrs. Milo interrupted. "But the child," she reminded. "Your daughter?"
"Daughter?" Sue turned to Balcome, questioning him, and half-guessing.
"Yes, my dear. Isn't it lovely? Mr. and Mrs. Farvel have a little
girl."
"That's the one," Balcome explained, as if Clare was not within
hearing. He jerked his head toward the hall. "The one that called her
Auntie."
"Auntie?" Mrs. Milo seized upon the information. "You surely don't
mean that the child calls her own mother Auntie?"
Clare broke in. "I'll tell you how that is," she volunteered. "You
see"--speaking to Sue--"I've never told her I'm her mother. She thinks
her mother's in Africa; her father, too. Because--because I've always
planned to give her to some good couple--a married couple. Don't you
see, as long as Barbara doesn't know, they could say, 'We are your
parents.'"
"But you couldn't give her up like that!" cried Sue, earnestly.
"No," purred Mrs. Milo. "You must keep your baby. And,
doubtless"--this with the ingratiating smile, the tip of the head, and
the pious inflection--"doubtless you two will wish to re-marry--for the
sake of the child."
"No!" cried Clare. "No! No! _No!_"
"No, Mrs. Milo," added Farvel, quietly. "She shall be free."
"No, for Heaven's sake!" put in Balcome. "Don't raise another girl
like Hattie's been raised."
Mrs. Milo showed her dislike of the remark, with its implied criticism
of her own judgment. And she was uneasy over the turn that the whole
matter had taken. Farvel married, no matter to whom, was one thing:
Farvel very insecurely tied, and possessed of a small daughter whose
mother repudiated her, that was quite another. She watched Sue
narrowly, for Sue was watching Farvel.
"But the little one," said the clergyman, turning to Clare; "I'd like
to see her."
"Sure!" She was all eagerness. "Why not?--Yes."
"Where is she?"
"Out of town. At Poughkeepsie. She boards with some people."
"Ah, good little mother!" said Sue, smiling. "Your baby's not in an
Institution!"
Clare blushed under the compliment. "No, I--I shouldn't like to have
her in an Orphanage."
"Can she come down right away?" asked Farvel.
"Yes! Right away! I'll go after her now."
"I'll go with you," suggested Sue. "May I?"
She tried to catch Farvel's eye, to warn him.
"But, Susan," objected Mrs. Milo; "I can't spare you."
"Oh, I can go alone," protested Clare. "I don't need anybody."
Behind her back, Balcome held up a lead-pencil at Sue.
She understood, "We'll send for the baby. Now, what's the address?"
She proffered Clare the pencil and an envelope from one of Balcome's
sagging pockets. Then to him, as Clare wrote, "Would you mind going
back to the Rectory and sending me Dora?"
"Good idea!" He pulled on the big hat.
"Dora?" cried Mrs. Milo. "That child?"
"Child!" laughed Sue. "Why, I'd send her to Japan. You don't think
she'd ever succumb to the snares and pitfalls of this wicked world!
She'll set the whole train to memorizing Lamentations!"
Mrs. Milo's eyes narrowed. Sue's sudden interest in Farvel's daughter
was irritating and disturbing. "Wait, Brother Balcome," she begged.
"Sue, _I_ don't see why the little girl's own mother shouldn't go for
her."
"Of course, I can."
Balcome waited no longer. With a meaning glance at Sue, and a scowl
for Mrs. Milo, he hurried out.
"Oh, let Dora go, Mrs. Farvel," urged Sue. "And meanwhile, you can be
getting settled somewhere."
Clare looked pleased. "Yes. All right."
"Then she will leave here?" inquired Mrs. Milo.
"Oh, she must," declared Sue, "if she's going to have her baby come to
her." She indicated the suitcase. "Is there more?"
"A trunk. And it won't take me ten minutes." As she turned to go,
Clare's look rested on the bird-cage, and she put out a hand toward it
involuntarily--then checked her evident wish to take it with her, and
disappeared into her own room.
"Where had she better go?" asked Farvel, appealing to Sue. "You'll
know best, I'm sure----"
Mrs. Milo fluttered to join them. "Of course," she began, her voice
full of sweet concern, "there are organized Homes for young women
who've made mistakes----"
"Sh!" cautioned Farvel, with a nervous look toward the double door.
"There's the little one, mother," reminded Sue.
"Oh, but hear me out," begged the elder woman. "In this case, I'm not
advising such an institution. I suggest some very nice family hotel."
Sue lowered her voice. "It won't do," she said. "We want to help
her--and we want to help the baby. If she goes alone to a hotel, we'll
never see her again. Just before you came----" She went close to the
double door. Beyond it, someone was moving quickly about, with much
rustling of paper. She came tiptoeing back. "She tried to steal
away," she whispered.
"I mustn't lose track of my daughter," declared Farvel. He, too, went
to listen for sounds from the back-parlor.
"Then we'd better take her right to the Rectory," advised Sue, "and
have Barbara brought there."
Mrs. Milo bristled. "Now if you please!" she exclaimed angrily.
Farvel crossed to her, eyeing her determinedly. "I don't see any
serious objection," he observed challengingly. "Your son--will not be
there."
"You've lost your senses! Have you no regard for the conventions?
This woman is your ex-wife!"
"But if there is no publicity--and for just a few days, mother."
Mrs. Milo attempted to square those slender shoulders. "I won't have
that girl at the Rectory," she replied with finality.
Farvel smiled. "But the Rectory is _my_ home, Mrs. Milo."
"Oh, for the sake of the child, mother! For no other reason."
"_If_ she comes, I shall leave--leave for good!"
Farvel bowed an acceptance of her edict. "Well, she _is_ coming," he
said firmly; "and so is Barbara."
"Then I shan't sleep under that roof another night!" Mrs. Milo
trembled with wrath. "Come, Susan! _We_ shall do some packing." She
bustled to the hall door, but paused there to right her bonnet--an
excuse for delaying her departure against the capitulation of her
opponents. She longed to speak at greater length and more plainly, but
she dreaded what Farvel might say against her son.
Sue did not follow. "But, mother!" she whispered. "Mr. Farvel!--Oh,
don't let her hear any of this!" She motioned the clergyman toward the
rear room. "Sh!--You offer to help her! Go in there! Oh, do!"
He nodded. "And you'll come with us to the Rectory?"
"Indeed, she won't!" cried Mrs. Milo, coming back. "The very idea!"
Farvel ignored her. "You see," he added, with just a touch of humor,
"we'll have to have a chaperone." He knocked.
"Oh, come in!" called Clare.
Sue shut the door behind him; then she took her mother with her to the
bay-window, halted her there as if she were standing one of the naughty
orphans in a corner, and looked at her in sorrowful reproval.
Mrs. Milo drew away from the touch of her daughter's hand irritably.
"Now, don't glare at me like that!" she ordered. "The Rectory is not a
reformatory."
"Oh, let's not take that old ruined-girl attitude!" replied Sue,
impatiently. "Laura Farvel doesn't need reforming. She needs kindness
and love."
"Love!" repeated Mrs. Milo, scornfully. "Do you realize that you're
talking about a woman who led your own brother astray?"
"I don't know who did the leading," Sue answered quietly. "As a matter
of fact, they were both very young----"
"Wallace is a good boy!"
"The less we say about Wallace in this matter the better. Why don't
you go to him, mother? He must be very unhappy. He will want advice.
And there's Mr. Balcome--shouldn't you and he take all this up with
Hattie's mother?"
"Wallace will tell Hattie. We can trust him. But I don't want you to
act foolish. Is she going to bring that child to the Rectory?"
"To the home of the child's own father? Why not?"
"Yes! And you'll get attached to her!"
Sue did not guess at the real fear that lay behind her mother's words.
"But you _want_ me to, don't you? I'm attached to a hundred others
there already. And you'll love Barbara, too."
"There! You see?--Wherever a young one is concerned, you utterly
forget your mother!"
"Why--why----" Sue put a helpless hand to her forehead. "Forget you?
I don't see how the little one would make any difference----"
Farvel interrupted, opening the double door a few inches to look in.
"Miss Susan,--just a minute?"
"Can I help?" Without waiting for the protest to be expected from her
mother, Sue hurried out.
Mrs. Milo stayed where she was, staring toward the back-parlor.
"O-o-o-oh! To the Rectory!" she stormed. "It's abominable! I won't
have it! Such an insult!--The creature!"
Someone entered from the hall--noiselessly. It was Tottie, wearing her
best manners, and with a countenance from which, obviously, she had
extracted, as it were, some of the rosy color worn at her earlier
appearance. She had smoothed her bobbed red tresses, too, and a long
motor veil of a lilac tinge made less obtrusive the décolleté of the
tea-gown.
"Young woman," began Mrs. Milo, speaking low, and with an air of
confidence calculated to flatter; "this--this Miss Crosby;" (she gave a
jerky nod of her bonnet to indicate the present whereabouts of that
person) "you've known her some time?"
A wise smile spread upon Miss St. Clair's derouged face. She dropped
her lashes and lifted them again. "Long," she replied significantly,
"and _intimate_."
The blue eyes danced. "My daughter seems interested in her. And I
have a mother's anxiety."
Tottie was blessed with a sense of humor, but she conquered her desire
to laugh. The daughter in question was a woman older than herself;
under the circumstances, a "mother's anxiety" was hardly deserving of
sympathy. Nevertheless, the landlady answered in a voice that was deep
with condolence. "Oh, _I_ understand how y' feel," she declared.
"We know very little about her. I wonder--can _you_--tell
me--_something_."
Tottie let her eyes fall--to the modish dress, with its touches of
lace; to a pearl-and-amethyst brooch that held Mrs. Milo's collar; to
the fresh gloves and the smart shoes. She recognized good taste even
though she did not choose to subscribe to it; also, she recognized cost
values. She looked up with a mysterious smile. "Well," she said
slowly, "I don't like to--knock anybody."
"A-a-ah!" triumphed the elder woman; "I thought so!--Now, you won't let
me be imposed upon! Please! Quick!" A white glove was laid on a
chiffon sleeve.
"Sh!--Later! Later!" The landlady drew away, pointing toward the
back-parlor warningly. The situation was to her taste. She seemed to
be a part of one of those very scenes for which her soul
yearned--melodramatic scenes such as she had witnessed across
footlights, with her husky-voiced favorite in the principal role.
"I'll come back," whispered Mrs. Milo.
"No. I'll 'phone you." With measured tread, Tottie stalked to the
double door, her eyes shifting, and one hand outstretched with
spraddling fingers to indicate caution.
Mrs. Milo trotted after her. "But I think I'd better come back."
Tottie whirled. "What's your 'phone number?"
"Stuyvesant--three, nine, seven,"--this before she could remember that
she was not planning to sleep under the Rectory roof again.
"Don't I git more'n a number?" persisted Tottie. "Whom 'm I to ask
for?"
"Just say 'Mrs. Milo.'"
"Stuyvesant--three, nine, seven, Mrs. Milo," repeated Tottie, leaning
down at the table to note the data. Then with the information safely
registered, "Of course, it'll be worth somethin' to you."
Mrs. Milo almost reeled. She opened her mouth for breath.
"Why--why--you mean----" All her boasted poise was gone.
Tottie grinned--with a slanting look from between half-lowered lashes.
"I mean--money," she said softly; and gave Mrs. Milo a playful little
poke.
"Money!"--too frightened, now, even to resent familiarity. "Money!
Oh, you wouldn't----! You don't----!"
"Yes, ma'am! You want somethin' from me, and I can give it to y', but
you're goin' to _pay_ for it!"
The double door opened. Sue entered, her look startled and inquiring.
It was plain that she had overheard.
Mrs. Milo pretended not to have noted Sue's coming. "Yes, very well,"
she said to Tottie, as if continuing a conversation that was casual;
but the blue eyes were frightened. "Thank you so _much_!"--warmly.
"And isn't that a bell I hear ringing?" She gave the landlady a glance
full of meaning.
"Ha-ha!" With a nod and a saucy backward grin, Tottie went out.
For a moment neither mother nor daughter spoke. Sue waited, trying to
puzzle out the significance of what she had caught; and scarcely daring
to charge an indiscretion. Mrs. Milo waited, forcing Sue to speak
first, and thus betray how much she had heard.
"I thought you'd gone," ventured Sue.
"Gone, darling? Without you?"
"That woman;"--Sue came closer--"I hope you were very careful."
"Why, I was!"--this not without the note of injured innocence always so
effective.
But Sue was not to be blocked so easily. "You're going to pay her for
what?"
"Pay?"
"What was she saying?"
Now Mrs. Milo realized that she had been heard: that she must save
herself from a mortifying situation by some other method than simple
justification. She took refuge in tears. "I can see that you're
trying to blame me for something!" she complained, and sank, weeping,
to the settee.
"I don't like to, mother," answered Sue, "but----"
That good angel who watches over those who see no other way out of an
embarrassing predicament save the unlikely arrival of an earthquake or
an aeroplane now intervened in Mrs. Milo's behalf. Dora came in,
showing that the bell had, indeed, been summoning the mistress of the
house. Behind Dora was Tottie, and the attitude of each to the other
was plainly belligerent.
"As you don't know your Scriptures," Dora was saying, with a sad
intonation which marked Tottie as one of those past redemption, "I'll
repeat the reference for you: 'Curiosity was given to man as a
scourge.'" Then in anything but a spirit proper to a biblical
quotation, she slammed the door in Tottie's face.
Mrs. Milo, dry-eyed, was on her feet to receive Dora. "Oh, you
impudent!" she charged. "That's the reference you gave _me_--when I
asked you who was telephoning my daughter! I looked it up!"
"Ah, Mrs. Milo!" Dora put finger-tips together and cast mournful eyes
up to Tottie's chandelier. "'The tongue is a world of iniquity.'"
Sue took her by a shoulder, shaking her a little. "Dora, I'm sending
you out of town."
"Oh, Miss Susan!" All nonsense was frightened out of her. "Don't send
me away! I tried to do my best--to keep her from coming here! But,
oh, Deuteronomy, nine, thirteen!"
"Deuteronomy, nine, thirteen," repeated Mrs. Milo, wrinkling her brows.
Her eyes moved as she cudgeled her brain. "Deuteronomy----"
Sue gave Dora another shake. "Listen, my dear! I'm sending you after
a little girl. Here! Twenty dollars, and it's Mr. Farvel's."
"Oh, Miss Susan!"--with abject relief. "Gladly do I devote my gifts,
poor as they are, to your service." And in her best ministerial
manner, "Where is the child?" She tucked the paper bill into a glove.
"Poughkeepsie,"--Sue gave her the address. "Go up this
afternoon--right away. And return the first thing in the morning.
Bring her straight to the Rectory. Now, you'll have quite a ride with
that baby, Dora. And I want you to get her ready for the happiest
moment in all her little life! Do you hear?--the happiest, Dora! And,
oh, here's where you must be eloquent!"
"Oh, Miss Susan, 'I am of slow speech, and of a slow tongue.'"
"I'll tell you what to say," reassured Sue. "You say to her that
you're bringing her to her mother; and that she's going to live with
her mother, in a little cottage somewhere--a cottage running over with
roses."
"Roses," echoed Dora, and counting on her fingers, "--mother, cottage,
garden----"
"And tell her that she's got a dear mother--so brave, and good, and
sweet, and pretty. And her mother loves her--don't forget that!--loves
her better than anything else in the whole world----"
"Loves her," checked off Dora, pulling aside another finger; "--brave,
good, sweet, pretty----"
"Yes, and there's going to be no more boarding out--no more forever!
Oh, the lonely little heart!" Sue took Dora by both shoulders. "Her
mother's waiting for her! Her mother! Her own mother!"
"Boarding out,"--checking again; "--waiting mother. Miss Susan, I
shall return by the first train tomorrow, Providence permitting." This
last was accompanied by a solemn look at Mrs. Milo, and a roguish
hop-skip that freed her from Sue's hold.
"Oh, the very first!" urged Sue. "Dora!"
Dora swung herself out.
Now Mrs. Milo seemed her usual self once more. "Then Mrs. Farvel will
not remain at the Rectory?" she inquired.
"Oh, how could she? Of course not! They called me in to tell me: Mrs.
Farvel and Barbara will leave New York in two or three days."
"Good! Meanwhile, we shall stay at the hotel with Mrs. Balcome."
"But I _must_ go to the Rectory."
"_I_ see no necessity."
"Why, mother! Mrs. Farvel couldn't possibly go there without someone.
Surely you see how it is. Besides, there's the house--Dora's gone, and
I must go back."
"You'll do nothing of the kind," returned Mrs. Milo, tartly.
"Just for one night?"
"Not for one hour. They will get someone else."
"A stranger?--Now, mother! Mrs. Farvel needs me."
"Oh, she needs you, does she?"--resentfully. "And I suppose your own
mother doesn't need you."
"You'll be with Wallace."
"So!" And with a taunting smile, "Perhaps Mr. Farvel also needs you."
"No." But now a curious look came into Sue's eyes--a look of
comprehension. Jealousy! It was patent to her, as it had never been
before. Her mother was jealous of Farvel; fearful that even at so late
a date happiness might come to the middle-aged woman who was her
daughter. "No," she said again. "He doesn't need me."
"_In_deed!"
"No--I need him."
Mrs. Milo was appalled. "A-a-a-ah! So _that's_ it! You need him!
Now, we're coming to the truth!"
"Yes--the truth."
"_That's_ why you couldn't rest till you'd followed this woman!" Mrs.
Milo pointed a trembling hand toward the double door. "You were sure
it was some love-affair. And you were jealous!"
Sue laughed. "Jealous," she repeated, bitterly.
"Yes, jealous! The fact of the matter is, you're crazy about Alan
Farvel!" She was panting.
"And if--I am?" asked Sue.
"_Oh!_" It was a cry of fury. With a swift movement, Mrs. Milo passed
Sue, pulled at the double door, and stood, bracing herself, as she
almost shrieked down at Clare, kneeling before an open suitcase.
"You've done this! You! You dragged my son down, and now you're
coming between me and my daughter!"
Clare rose, throwing a garment aside.
"Mother! Mother!" Sue tried to draw her mother away.
Mrs. Milo retreated, but only to let Clare enter, followed by Farvel.
"Go back!" begged Sue. "Go back!--Mr. Farvel, take her!"
"Come, Laura! Come!"
But Clare would not go. "Yes, come--and let her wreak her meanness on
Miss Milo! No! Here's a sample of what you're going to get, Alan, for
insisting on my going to that Rectory. So you'd better hear it. I
told you the plan is a mistake." And to Mrs. Milo, "Let's hear what
you've got to say."
Righteous virtue glittered in the blue eyes. "I've got this to say!"
she cried. "You've been missing ten years--ten years of running around
loose. What've you been up to? Are you fit to be a friend of my
daughter?"
Sue flung an arm about Clare. "I am her friend!" she declared. "I
won't judge her!--Oh, mother!"
It only served to rouse Mrs. Milo further. "Ah, she knows I'm
right!--You're going to lie, are you? You're going to palm yourself
off on a decent man! Ha! You won't fool anybody! You're marked!
Look in this glass!" She caught up the hand-mirror lying on the table
and thrust it before Clare's face. "Look at yourself! It's as easy to
read as paper written over with nasty things! Your paint and powder
won't cover it! The badness sticks out like a scab!" Then as Clare,
with a sudden twist of the body, and a sob, hid her face against Sue,
Mrs. Milo tossed the mirror to the table. "There!" she cried. "I've
had my say! Now take your bleached fallen woman to the Rectory!" And
with a look of defiance, she went back to the rocking-chair and sat.
No one spoke for a moment. Sue, holding the weeping girl in her arms,
and soothing her with gentle pats on the heaving shoulders, looked at
her mother, answering the other's defiant stare angrily. "Ah, cruel!
Cruel!" she said, presently. "And I know why. Oh, don't you feel that
we should do everything in our power for Mr. Farvel, and not act like
this? Haven't we Milos done enough to give him sorrow?" (It was
characteristic that she did not say "Wallace," but charged his
wrong-doing against the family.) "Here's our chance to be a little bit
decent. And now you attack her. But--it's not because you think she's
sinned: it's because you think I'm going--to the Rectory."
Now Clare freed herself gently from Sue's embrace, lifting her head
wearily. "Oh, I might as well tell you both"--she looked at Farvel,
too--"that she's right about me. There have been--other things."
Sue caught her hands. "Oh, then forget them!" she cried. "And
remember only that you're going to be happy again!"
Clare hung her head. "But the lies," she reminded, under her breath.
"The lies. Felix, he won't forgive me. I _am_ engaged to him. And he
doesn't know that I've ever been married before. That's why I was so
scared when I saw--when I guessed Alan was at the Rectory. And why I
wanted to--to sneak a little while ago. Oh, I can't ever face Felix!
I--I've never even told him that Barbara is mine."
"Let _me_ tell him.--And surely marriage and a daughter aren't crimes.
And he'll respect you for clinging to the child."
"He knows I meant to desert her," Clare whispered back. "Oh, Miss
Milo, there's something wrong about me! I bore her. But I'm not her
mother. I never can be. Some women are mothers just naturally. Look
how those choir-boys love you! 'Momsey' they call you--'Momsey.' Ha!
They know a mother when they see one!"
Mrs. Milo rocked violently, darting a scornful look at the little
group. "Disgusting!" she observed.
The three gave her no notice. "You'll grow to love your baby,"
declared Sue. "You can't help it. Just wait till you've got a
home--instead of a boarding-house. And trust us, and let us help you."
A wan smile. "Ah, how dear and good you are!" breathed the girl.
"Will you kiss me?"
"God love you!" Once more Sue caught the slender figure to her.
"So good! So good!"--weeping.
"Now no more tears! Let me see a smile!" Sue lifted the wet face.
Clare smiled and turned away. "I'll finish in here," she said, and
went into the other room.
Farvel made as if to follow, but turned back. "Ah, Sue Milo, you are
dear and good!" he faltered. Then coming to take her hand, "Your
tenderness to Laura--your thought of the child! Ah, you're a woman in
a million! How can I ever get on without you!" He raised her hand to
his lips, held it a moment tightly between both of his, and went out.
Mrs. Milo had risen. Now she watched her daughter--the look Sue gave
Farvel, and the glance down at the hand just caressed. To the jealous
eyes of the elder woman, the clergyman's action, so full of tender
admiration, conveyed but one thing--such an attachment as she had
charged against Sue, and which now seemed fully reciprocated. With a
burst of her ever available tears, she dropped back into her chair.
But the tears did not avail. For Sue stayed where she was. And her
face was grave with understanding. "Ah, mother," she said, with a
touch of bitterness. "I knew my happiness would make you happy!"
"Laura!" It was Farvel, calling from the back-parlor. "Laura! Laura!
Where are you?"
Sue met him as he rushed in. "What----?"
"She's not there!" He ran to the hall door, calling as before.
"She's gone?" Sue went the opposite way, to look from the rear
back-parlor window that commanded a small square of yard.
Mrs. Milo ceased to weep.
"Laura! Laura!" Farvel called up the stairs.
"Hello-o-o-o!" sang back Tottie.
"Laura! Laura!" Now Farvel was on the steps outside. He descended to
the sidewalk, turned homeward, halted, reconsidering, then hurried the
opposite way.