"I'll explain----" began Jack.
But at that moment the old lady walked in.
She was a dear little old lady, the old-fashioned kind of mother, quite
rare in a New York flat. She wore a black silk dress many times turned
and white at the seams, and a little cap which was never quite
straight, giving her a lovable, rakish expression.
Jack looked appealingly at Kate, who hesitated and gulped. "Mother,
this--this is Mr. Robinson," she said.
"How do you do, Mr. Robinson," said Mrs. Storer in a voice like a
little girl's. She affected to take no notice of Jack's grandeur
though it must surely have been a notable sight in that poor little
room. "I have not heard Katherine speak of you. Where did you meet
Mr. Robinson, Katherine?"
"Mr. Robinson was--was formerly in our office," said poor Kate.
The little old lady made polite conversation for five minutes, and then
having established the proprieties, like a thoroughbred mother, she
made a transparent excuse to disappear and was seen no more.
"She's a corker!" said Jack.
Kate beamed on him.
Through the open window came the sounds of a violent, vulgar
altercation from the flat below. Kate closed the window with an
oblivious air.
"I expect you've had an exciting day," she said. "What did the papers
mean by saying that you were fat, and that you had a good-looking
secretary to whom you turned for everything?"
"I'm the good-looking one," said Jack, grinning.
"I don't understand."
"I'll explain in a minute, but first----"
"_Please!_" she said with an admonishing gesture.
"Kitty, I can't help it! I can't play up to you. If you knew how it
hurt to find you living in such a place----"
"We don't have to live here," she said with quick pride. "We're saving
our money so we can go abroad."
"That's not true. I know how much they pay in the sort of place where
you work, and how much it costs to live. I have been through the mill.
It takes every cent you earn to keep up this place. And you're always
thinking, what would you do if you got sick or were without a job, even
for a week. That's what makes that little line between your dear eyes."