The American dearly loves a sensation, and the bigger and more
blood-curdling it is the better. Nothing is more gratifying on arising
in the morning and sitting down to partake of a daintily served
breakfast than to glance hurriedly over the front page of one's favorite
newspaper and see it covered with startling headlines. It matters little
what has happened during the night to shock the community, so long as it
satisfies one's appetite for sensational news. It can be a fatal
conflagration, a fearful railroad wreck, a gigantic bank robbery, a
horrible murder, or even a scandalous divorce case. All one asks is that
it be something big, with column after column of harrowing details. The
newspapers are fully alive to what is expected of them, but it is not
always easy to supply the demand. There are times when the metropolis
languishes for news of any description. There are no disastrous fires,
trains run without mishap, burglars go on a vacation, society leaders
act with decorum--in a word the city is deadly dull. Further
consideration of the tariff remains the most thrilling topic the
newspapers can find to write about.
The murder at the aristocratic Astruria, therefore, was hailed by the
editors as a unmixed journalistic blessing, and they proceeded to play
it up for all it was worth. All the features of a first-class sensation
were present. The victim, Robert Underwood, was well known in society
and a prominent art connoisseur. The place where the crime was committed
was one of the most fashionable of New York's hostelries. The presumed
assassin was a college man and the son of one of the most wealthy and
influential of New York's citizens.
True, this Howard Jeffries, the son, was a black sheep. He had been
mixed up in all kinds of scandals before. His own father had turned him
out of doors, and he was married to a woman whose father died in prison.
Could a better combination of circumstances for a newspaper be
conceived? The crime was discovered too late for the morning papers to
make mention of it, but the afternoon papers fired a broadside that
shook the town. All the evening papers had big scare heads stretching
across the entire front page, with pictures of the principals involved
and long interviews with the coroner and Captain Clinton. There seemed
to be no doubt that the police had arrested the right man, and in all
quarters of the city there was universal sympathy for Mr. Howard
Jeffries, Sr. It was terrible to think that this splendid, upright man,
whose whole career was without a single stain, who had served his
country gallantly through the civil war, should have such disgrace
brought upon him in his old age.
Everything pointed to a speedy trial and quick conviction. Public
indignation was aroused almost to a frenzy, and a loud clamor went up
against the law's delay. Too many crimes of this nature, screamed the
yellow press, had been allowed to sully the good name of the city. A
fearful example must be made, no matter what the standing and influence
of the prisoner's family. Thus goaded on, the courts acted with
promptness. Taken before a magistrate, Howard was at once committed to
the Tombs to await trial, and the district attorney set to work
impaneling a jury. Justice, he promised, would be swiftly done. One
newspaper stated positively that the family would not interfere, but
would abandon the scapegrace son to his richly deserved fate. Judge
Brewster, the famous lawyer, it was said, had already been approached by
the prisoner's wife, but had declined to take the case. Banker Jeffries
also was quoted as saying that the man under arrest was no longer a son
of his.
As one paper pointed out, it seemed a farce and a waste of money to have
any trial at all. The assassin had not only been caught red-handed, but
had actually confessed. Why waste time over a trial? True, one paper
timidly suggested that it might have been a case of suicide. Robert
Underwood's financial affairs, it went on to say, were in a critical
condition, and the theory of suicide was borne out to some extent by an
interview with Dr. Bernstein, professor of psychology at one of the
universities, who stated that he was by no means convinced of the
prisoner's guilt, and hinted that the alleged confession might have been
forced from him by the police, while in a hypnotic state. This theory,
belittling as it did their pet sensation, did not suit the policy of
the yellow press, so the learned professor at once became the target for
editorial attack.
The sensation grew in importance as the day for the trial approached.
All New York was agog with excitement. The handsome Jeffries mansion on
Riverside Drive was besieged by callers. The guides on the sight-seeing
coaches shouted through their megaphones:
"That's the house where the murderer of Robert Underwood lived."
The immediate vicinity of the house the day that the crime was made
public was thronged with curious people. The blinds of the house were
drawn down as if to shield the inmates from observation, but there were
several cabs in front of the main entrance and passers by stopped on the
sidewalk, pointing at the house. A number of newspaper men stood in a
group, gathering fresh material for the next edition. A reporter
approached rapidly from Broadway and joined his colleagues.
"Well, boys," he said cheerily. "Anything doing? Say, my paper is going
to have a bully story to-morrow! Complete account by Underwood's valet.
He tells how he caught the murderer just as he was escaping from the
apartment We'll have pictures and everything. It's fine. Anything doing
here?" he demanded.
"Naw," grunted the others in disgruntled tones.
"We saw the butler," said one reporter, "and tried to get a story from
him, but he flatly refused to talk. All he would say was that Howard
Jeffries was nothing to the family, that his father didn't care a straw
what became of him."
"That's pretty tough!" exclaimed another reporter. "He's his son, after
all."
"Oh, you don't know old Jeffries," chimed in a third. "When once he
makes up his mind you might as well try to move a house."
The afternoon was getting on; if their papers were to print anything
more that day they must hasten downtown.
"Let's make one more attempt to get a talk out of the old man,"
suggested one enterprising scribe.
"All right," cried the others in chorus. "You go ahead. We'll follow in
a body and back you up."
Passing through the front gate, they rang the bell, and after a brief
parley were admitted to the house. They had hardly disappeared when a
cab drove hurriedly up and stopped at the curb. A young woman, heavily
veiled, descended, paid the driver, and walked quickly through the gates
toward the house.
Annie tried to feel brave, but her heart misgave her when she saw this
splendid home with all its evidence of wealth, culture, and refinement.
It was the first time she had ever entered its gates, although, in a
measure, she was entitled to look upon it as her own home. Perhaps never
so much as now she realized what a deep gulf lay between her husband's
family and herself. This was a world she had never known--a world of
opulence and luxury. She did not know how she had summoned up courage
enough to come. Yet there was no time to be lost. Immediate action was
necessary. Howard must have the best lawyers that money could procure.
Judge Brewster had been deaf to her entreaties. He had declined to take
the case. She had no money. Howard's father must come to his assistance.
She would plead with him and insist that it was his duty to stand by his
son. She wondered how he would receive her, if he would put her out or
be rude to her. Perhaps he would not even receive her. He might tell the
servants to shut the door in her face. Timidly she rang the bell. The
butler opened the door, and summoning up all her courage, she asked:
"Is Mr. Jeffries in?"
To her utter amazement the butler offered no objection to her entering.
Mistaking her for a woman reporter, several of whom had already called
that morning, he said:
"Go right in the library, madam; the other newspaper folk are there."
She passed through the splendid reception hall, marveling inwardly at
the beautiful statuary and pictures, no little intimidated at finding
herself amid such splendid surroundings. On the left there was a door
draped with handsome tapestry.
"Right in there, miss," said the butler.
She went in, and found herself in a room of noble proportions, the walls
of which were lined with bookshelves filled with tomes in rich bindings.
The light that entered through the stained-glass windows cast a subdued
half-light, warm and rich in color, on the crimson plush furnishings.
Near the heavy flat desk in the centre of the room a tall, distinguished
man was standing listening deprecatingly to the half dozen reporters
who were bombarding him with questions. As Annie entered the room she
caught the words of his reply:
"The young man who has inherited my name has chosen his own path in
life. I am grieved to say that his conduct at college, his marriage, has
completely separated him from his family, and I have quite made up my
mind that in no way or manner can his family become identified with any
steps he may take to escape the penalty of his mad act. I am his father,
and I suppose, under the circumstances, I ought to say something. But I
have decided not to. I don't wish to give the American public any excuse
to think that I am paliating or condoning his crime. Gentlemen, I wish
you good-day."
Annie, who had been listening intently, at once saw her opportunity. Mr.
Jeffries had taken no notice of her presence, believing her to be a
newspaper writer like the others. As the reporters took their departure
and filed out of the room, she remained behind. As the last one
disappeared she turned to the banker and said:
"May I speak to you a moment?"
He turned quickly and looked at her in surprise. For the first time he
was conscious of her presence. Bowing courteously, he shook his head:
"I am afraid I can do nothing for you, madam--as I've just explained to
your confrères of the press."
Annie looked up at him, and said boldly:
"I am not a reporter, Mr. Jeffries. I am your son's wife."
The banker started back in amazement. This woman, whom he had taken for
a newspaper reporter, was an interloper, an impostor, the very last
woman in the world whom he would have permitted to be admitted to his
house. He considered that she, as much as anybody else, had contributed
to his son's ruin. Yet what could he do? She was there, and he was too
much of a gentleman to have her turned out bodily. Wondering at his
silence, she repeated softly:
"I'm your son's wife, Mr. Jeffries."
The banker looked at her a moment, as if taking her in from head to
foot. Then he said coldly:
"Madam, I have no son." He hesitated, and added:
"I don't recognize----"
She looked at him pleadingly.
"But I want to speak to you, sir."
Mr. Jeffries shook his head, and moved toward the door.
"I repeat, I have nothing to say."
Annie planted herself directly in his path. He could not reach the door
unless he removed her forcibly.
"Mr. Jeffries," she said earnestly, "please don't refuse to hear
me--please----"
He halted, looking as if he would like to escape, but there was no way
of egress. This determined-looking young woman had him at a
disadvantage.
"I do not think," he said icily, "that there is any subject which can be
of mutual interest----"
"Oh, yes, there is," she replied eagerly. She was quick to take
advantage of this entering wedge into the man's mantle of cold reserve.
"Flesh and blood," she went on earnestly, "is of mutual interest. Your
son is yours whether you cast him off or not. You've got to hear me. I
am not asking anything for myself. It's for him, your son. He's in
trouble. Don't desert him at a moment like this. Whatever he may have
done to deserve your anger--don't--don't deal him such a blow. You
cannot realize what it means in such a critical situation. Even if you
only pretend to be friendly with him--you don't need to really be
friends with him. But don't you see what the effect will be if you, his
father, publicly withdraw from his support? Everybody will say he's no
good, that he can't be any good or his father wouldn't go back on him.
You know what the world is. People will condemn him because you condemn
him. They won't even give him a hearing. For God's sake, don't go back
on him now!"
Mr. Jeffries turned and walked toward the window, and stood there gazing
on the trees on the lawn. She did not see his face, but by the nervous
twitching of his hands behind his back, she saw that her words had not
been without effect. She waited in silence for him to say something.
Presently he turned around, and she saw that his face had changed. The
look of haughty pride had gone. She had touched the chords of the
father's heart. Gravely he said:
"Of course you realize that you, above all others, are responsible for
his present position."
She was about to demur, but she checked herself. What did she care what
they thought of her? She was fighting to save her husband, not to make
the Jeffries family think better of her. Quickly she answered:
"Well, all right--I'm responsible--but don't punish him because of me."
Mr. Jeffries looked at her.
Who was this young woman who championed so warmly his own son? She was
his wife, of course. But wives of a certain kind are quick to desert
their husbands when they are in trouble. There must be some good in the
girl, after all, he thought. Hesitatingly, he said:
"I could have forgiven him everything, everything but----"
"But me," she said promptly. "I know it. Don't you suppose I feel it
too, and don't you suppose it hurts?"
Mr. Jeffries stiffened up. This woman was evidently trying to excite his
sympathies. The hard, proud expression came back into his face, as he
answered curtly:
"Forgive me for speaking plainly, but my son's marriage with such a
woman as you has made it impossible to even consider the question of
reconciliation."
With all her efforts at self-control, Annie would have been more than
human had she not resented the insinuation in this cruel speech. For a
moment she forgot the importance of preserving amicable relations, and
she retorted:
"Such a woman as me? That's pretty plain----. But you'll have to speak
even more plainly. What do you mean when you say such a woman as me?
What have I done?"
Mr. Jeffries looked out of the window without answering, and she went
on:
"I worked in a factory when I was nine years old, and I've earned my
living ever since. There's no disgrace in that, is there? There's
nothing against me personally--nothing disgraceful, I mean. I know I'm
not educated. I'm not a lady in your sense of the word, but I've led a
decent life. There isn't a breath of scandal against me--not a breath.
But what's the good of talking about me? Never mind me. I'm not asking
for anything. What are you going to do for him? He must have the best
lawyer that money can procure--none of those bar-room orators. Judge
Brewster, your lawyer, is the man. We want Judge Brewster."
Mr. Jeffries shrugged his shoulders.
"I repeat--my son's marriage with the daughter of a man who died in
prison----"
She interrupted him.
"That was hard luck--nothing but hard luck. You're not going to make me
responsible for that, are you? Why, I was only eight years old when that
happened. Could I have prevented it?" Recklessly she went on: "Well,
blame it on me if you want to, but don't hold it up against Howard. He
didn't know it when he married me. He never would have known it but for
the detectives employed by you to dig up my family history, and the
newspapers did the rest. God! what they didn't say! I never realized I
was of so much importance. They printed it in scare-head lines. It made
a fine sensation for the public, but it destroyed my peace of mind."
"A convict's daughter!" said Mr. Jeffries contemptuously.
"He was a good man at that!" she answered hotly. "He kept the squarest
pool room in Manhattan, but he refused to pay police blackmail, and he
was railroaded to prison." Indignantly she went on: "If my father's
shingle had been up in Wall Street, and he'd made fifty dishonest
millions, you'd forget it next morning, and you'd welcome me with open
arms. But he was unfortunate. Why, Billy Delmore was the best man in the
world. He'd give away the last dollar he had to a friend. I wish to God
he was alive now! He'd help to save your son. I wouldn't have to come
here to ask you."
Mr. Jeffries shifted uneasily on his feet and looked away.
"You don't seem to understand," he said impatiently. "I've completely
cut him off from the family. It's as if he were dead."
She approached nearer and laid her hand gently on the banker's arm.
"Don't say that, Mr. Jeffries. It's wicked to say that about your own
son. He's a good boy at heart, and he's been so good to me. Ah, if you
only knew how hard he's tried to get work I'm sure you'd change your
opinion of him. Lately he's been drinking a little because he was
disappointed in not getting anything to do. But he tried so hard. He
walked the streets night and day. Once he even took a position as guard
on the elevated road. Just think of it, Mr. Jeffries, your son--to such
straits were we reduced--but he caught cold and had to give it up. I
wanted to go to work and help him out. I always earned my living before
I married him, but he wouldn't let me. You don't know what a good heart
he's got. He's been weak and foolish, but you know he's only a boy."
She watched his face to see if her words were having any effect, but Mr.
Jeffries showed no sign of relenting. Sarcastically, he said:
"And you took advantage of the fact and married him?"
For a moment she made no reply. She felt the reproach was not unmerited,
but why should they blame her for seeking happiness? Was she not
entitled to it as much as any other woman? She had not married Howard
for his social position or his money. In fact, she had been worse off
since her marriage than she was before. She married him because she
loved him, and because she thought she could redeem him, and she was
ready to go through any amount of suffering to prove her disinterested
devotion. Quietly, she said:
"Yes, I know--I did wrong. But I--I love him, Mr. Jeffries. Believe me
or not--I love him. It's my only excuse. I thought I could take care of
him. He needed some one to look after him, he's too easily influenced.
You know his character is not so strong as it might be. He told me that
his fellow students at college used to hypnotize him and make him do all
kinds of things to amuse the other boys. He says that somehow he's never
been the same since. I--I just loved him because I was strong and he was
weak. I thought I could protect him. But now this terrible thing has
happened, and I find I am powerless. It's too much for me. I can't fight
this battle alone. Won't you help me, Mr. Jeffries?" she added
pleadingly. "Won't you help me?"
The banker was thoughtful a minute, then suddenly he turned on her.
"Will you consent to a divorce if I agree to help him?"
She looked at him with dismay. There was tragic tenseness in this
dramatic situation--a father fighting for his son, a woman fighting for
her husband.
"A divorce?" she stammered. "Why, I never thought of such a thing as
that."
"It's the only way to save him," said the banker coldly.
"The only way?" she faltered.
"The only way," said Mr. Jeffries firmly. "Do you consent?" he asked.
Annie threw up her head. Her pale face was full of determination, as she
replied resignedly, catching her breath as she spoke:
"Yes, if it must be. I will consent to a divorce--to save him!"
"You will leave the country and go abroad to live?" continued the banker
coldly.
She listened as in a dream. That she would be confronted by such an
alternative as this had never entered her mind. She wondered why the
world was so cruel and heartless. Yet if the sacrifice must be made to
save Howard she was ready to make it.
"You will leave America and never return--is that understood?" repeated
the banker.
"Yes, sir," she replied falteringly.
Mr. Jeffries paced nervously up and down the room. For the first time he
seemed to take an interest in the interview. Patronizingly he said:
"You will receive a yearly allowance through my lawyer."
Annie tossed up her chin defiantly. She would show the aristocrat that
she could be as proud as he was.
"Thanks," she exclaimed. "I don't accept charity. I'm used to earning my
own living."
"Oh, very well," replied the banker quickly. "That's as you please. But
I have your promise--you will not attempt to see him again?"
"What! Not see him once more? To say good-by?" she exclaimed. A broken
sob half checked her utterance. "Surely you can't mean that, Mr.
Jeffries."
The banker shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't want the newspapers filled with sensational articles about the
heartrending farewell interview between Howard Jeffries, Jr., and his
wife--with your picture on the front page."
She was not listening to his sarcasm.
"Not even to say good-by?" she sobbed.
"No," replied Mr. Jeffries firmly. "Not even to say good-by."
"But what will he say? What will he think?" she cried.
"He will see it is for the best," answered the banker. "He himself will
thank you for your action."
There was a long silence, broken only by the sound of the girl's
sobbing. Finally she said:
"Very well, sir. I'll do as you say." She looked up. Her eyes were dry,
the lines about her mouth set and determined. "Now," she said, "what are
you going to do for him?"
The banker made a gesture of impatience as if such considerations were
not important.
"I don't know yet," he said haughtily. "I shall think the matter over
carefully."
Annie was fast losing patience. She was willing to sacrifice herself and
give up everything she held dear in life to save the man she loved, but
the cold, deliberate, calculating attitude of this unnatural father
exasperated her.
"But I want to know," she said boldly. "I want to consider the matter
carefully, too."
"You?" sneered Mr. Jeffries.
"Yes, sir," she retorted. "I'm paying dearly for it--with my--with all I
have. I want to know just what you're going to give him for it."
He was lost in reflection for a moment, then he said pompously:
"I shall furnish the money for the employment of such legal talent as
may be necessary. That's as far as I wish to go in the case. It must not
be known--I cannot allow it to be known that I am helping him."
"Must not be known?" cried Annie in astonishment. "You mean you won't
stand by him? You'll only just pay for the lawyer?"
The banker nodded:
"That is all I can promise."
She laughed hysterically.
"Why," she exclaimed, "I--I could do that myself if I--I tried hard
enough."
"I can promise nothing more," replied Mr. Jeffries coldly.
"But that is not enough," she protested. "I want you to come forward and
publicly declare your belief in your son's innocence. I want you to put
your arms around him and say to the world: 'My boy is innocent! I know
it and I'm going to stand by him.' You won't do that?"
Mr. Jeffries shook his head.
"It is impossible."
The wife's pent-up feelings now gave way. The utter indifference of this
aristocratic father aroused her indignation to such a pitch that she
became reckless of the consequences. They wanted her to desert him, just
as they deserted him, but she wouldn't. She would show them the kind of
woman she was.
"So!" she cried in an outburst of mingled anger and grief. "So his
family must desert him, and his wife must leave him! The poor boy must
stand absolutely alone in the world, and face a trial for his life! Is
that your idea?"
The banker made no reply. Snapping her fingers, she went on:
"Well, it isn't mine, Mr. Jeffries! I won't consent to a divorce! I
won't leave America! And I'll see him just as often as I can, even if I
have to sit in the Tombs prison all day. As for his defense, I'll find
some one. I'll go to Judge Brewster again, and if he still refuses, I'll
go to some one else. There must be some good, big-hearted lawyer in
this great city who'll take up his case."
Trembling with emotion she readjusted her veil and with her handkerchief
dried her tear-stained face. Going toward the door, she said:
"You needn't trouble yourself any more, Mr. Jeffries. We shan't need
your help. Thank you very much for the interview. It was very kind of
you to listen so patiently. Good afternoon, sir."
Before the astonished banker could stop her, she had thrown back the
tapestry and disappeared through the door.