"He will come back if you only whistle. You know that."
Constance let her eyes fall. She feared that it was too true. But she
could not afford to be pensive. She must be both resolute and
resourceful, for the future of this erring sister seemed to be hanging
in the balance.
"I can never marry Mr. Perry, Loretta. But----"
"I thought better things of you, Constance. Oh! well then I'll go back
to my man."
"If you should do such a thing it would break Mrs. Wilson's heart."
This seemed to Constance in her perplexity the most hopeful appeal, and
she was right, for Loretta was obviously impressed by the remark.
"Would it?" she asked. She looked down at her large hands and let them
rise and fall in her lap like one nervously touched by sentiment.
"I do not know of anything which would distress her more," continued
Constance.
After a moment Loretta said, "He's away now. He won't be on this route
again for another four months. So there isn't any danger just yet."
She shrugged her shoulders. Then she rose, adding, "I guess I'll go to
bed," which was plainly an intimation that this was to be the limit of
her present concession.
Constance was relieved, not only that immediate danger was averted, but
that the tie which bound Loretta to Mrs. Wilson, however temporarily
strained, was still strong and compelling. She rejoiced to think that
they were warned, so that they could now keep a closer watch and leave
nothing undone to save her from further degeneration. She dismissed
the subject by making some inquiries in regard to Loretta's last case.
The girl's responses were to the point and brisk, but she did not
resume her seat, and evidently had no intention of remaining.
Presently she got as far as the door, where she stood discussing for a
few moments with her hand on the knob. When at last she opened it and
was in the act of departing, she turned her head and uttered this
parting shot, which indicated what was still uppermost in her thoughts:
"I guess that you never really loved Gordon Perry, Esq.,
Counsellor-at-Law, or you couldn't have done it."
This taunt lingered in Constance's mind, though she denied the
impeachment to herself. Was it not indeed true, as Loretta said, that
it is love which makes the world go round? Only for the sake of
righteousness was she justified as a healthy, breathing woman in
stifling this instinct. If Loretta in the future were to marry some
one other than the father of her child both the Church and Mrs. Wilson
would rejoice because the mere ceremony of marriage had been lacking in
the first relation; yet she herself was forbidden to marry the man she
loved because she was tied to a faithless husband by the mere husk of
marriage.
She saw Loretta but two or three times before her convalescence was
complete and she had assumed her duties as Mrs. Wilson's secretary, for
Loretta was sent for again shortly, and was only at home in the
interval between her engagements. But Constance gave Mrs. Wilson
forthwith an inkling of Loretta's state of mind, though she tried to
believe that the girl's wanton threat was a mere passing ebullition due
to resentment of her reason for refusing Gordon. Nevertheless she did
not altogether like the expression of her eyes; it suggested
excitement, and predominance of that boldness which, though typical,
had been much in abeyance during the period of her regeneration. She
remembered, too, the bottle of pellets, which indicated that she was
taking some drug. So, though she could not believe that she was
seriously considering such an abhorrent proceeding, she felt it her
duty to put Mrs. Wilson on her guard. They both agreed, however, that
the culprit must be handled gingerly and not too much made of the
occurrence. Accordingly Mrs. Wilson straightway wrote to Loretta, but
her letter was a missive of interest and encouragement, not of reproach
or alarm. She deplored in it that she had lately seen but little of
her ward, owing to the latter's popularity as a nurse, and urged her to
call on her at the first opportunity. She sent her also one or two
pretty toilet articles for herself and some new frocks for her baby.
Constance said nothing, however, to Mrs. Wilson as to Loretta's
attitude toward the church regarding remarriage after divorce, for she
could not bear to renew the subject with her patroness. It was settled
forever, and her spirit craved peace.