"You can't!" Mrs. Benton fired on him. "I will NOT support your
wife!"
"Who asked you to?" Bob demanded. "I'll give you a job, Johnnie!
I'll see you don't starve!"
And crack! crack! Martha spoke quietly, scornfully, to Mrs. Benton:
"You needn't worry! I have not the least intention of marrying him!"
"You will marry him!" Bob popped. "You'll drop that skunk and marry
him, or you'll get out of this house. I'm not going to stand any
more nonsense from you!"
A fusillade from the heavy artillery.
"Whose house is this, anyway, Bob Kenworthy? What right have you got
to turn anyone out of it? If I was Emily I'd turn YOU out for saying
such a thing! I tell you I won't have Martha to support!"
"Don't you worry! I don't feel the need of you for my
mother-in-law!" Martha Kenworthy dared to turn directly to her
father. "This'll be my house some day, and I'll turn you all out if
I want to!"
Emily, still holding that staggering newspaper in her hand, heard
these dangerous sentences bursting around her child; they weren't
saving her--they were destroying her. A panic took possession of
her--and fury. And she rose with almost a jump and seized Martha by
the arm. These four sharpshooters saw something that they had never
seen before. Anger unused for many years cuts sharp. Emily, with
it, mowed them down.
"Keep still!" she cried to Martha. "Don't say another word! I'm
ashamed of you! Go up to your room, and don't you come down till you
apologize!" But she stood holding her tightly by the arm and glaring
about her. Her eyes were fixed on Mrs. Benton. "You stand there
saying things as if you could unsay them! A nice example you set
these children!" She turned to Bob. "Isn't this MY house?" Bob
Kenworthy had never been asked in all his married life before to
acknowledge that fact. "And you come here," she went on, furiously,
to Cora Benton, "and turn people out of it!"
She stopped, and from sheer amazement no one uttered a word. She
glared at them all.
"Johnnie, you go home! You're the only one that seems to have any
sense left! I don't know whether we're fit for you to associate
with! You better turn Bob out of the garage, and I'll turn your
mother out of her house, and we'll be done with it!" And she sent
her dumfounded daughter upstairs with an unmistakable gesture.
Johnnie went slowly out of the front door.
_Chapter Five_
Emily turned upon the subdued adults in front of her. She spoke
first to Bob.
"You call Martha a fool! You say that _she's_ foolish! If I ever
saw anything in my life to equal you two! I should think you'd be
glad Johnnie wants to marry a nice girl like Martha!" she cried to
Mrs. Benton.
"I'm not objecting to Martha, Emily; you know that. He hasn't any
business to begin talking about marriage at his age! A nice husband
he would make for anybody. He never earned a cent in his life; you
know that." She spoke guardedly now.
"Why shouldn't he be thinking about marriage at his age? It's
exactly the age he would think about it! I tell you they could both
do a lot worse than this. I wish she would marry him. But you went
and told her to, Bob. You're a perfect idiot, sometimes. She'll
never marry him now."
"She'll never get anybody to marry her if she don't watch her step.
Getting mixed up in cases like this!"
"You don't need to worry about this case, Emily," Mrs. Benton
announced. "I'll settle that. I told Johnnie he needn't get so
excited. Everybody in town will know, the minute they see that item,
that French put it there for spite, because we did build our parking
place there. I'm going to make him apologize. I'm going to call my
committee together at once. The family of every woman on it is not
going to be at the mercy of that unscrupulous man. First Johnnie's
play; then this about Martha. Johnnie says she's only played golf a
little with him. I'm going straight down to his office. I've got to
go before Johnnie gets there. He wants to fight him, of course!" She
actually started towards the door.
"You keep your hands off this case!" Bob cried at her, looking at
Emily.
She faced about angrily towards him.
"I'm going to have an understanding with that man!" But she too
stopped to look at Emily.
"You leave this to me! It's none of your business!" Bob commanded,
excitedly.
"It certainly _is_ my business, and I'm going to see about it!" She
turned defiantly to go.
But Emily rushed between her and the door, and she was desperate. If
Cora Benton knew all the truth, would she dare to ask for an apology?
"This is my case!" she cried, "If you take it up I'll never speak to
you again as long as I live! I'll go over to French! I'll go over
to the other side! And if you promise me now--that you won't--not
say a word to him till we think it over, I tell you I'll never let
Martha marry Johnnie! I'll get him to go back to college! I'll
persuade him! Honestly, Cora! Bob, go and stop Johnnie! Find out
where he is! Don't let him do anything!"
He obeyed. Standing at the screen door, the two women watched him
hurry down the street. Emily turned her head suddenly, hearing a
strange noise. Could Mrs. Benton be sniffling? Yes. Into those
kingly black eyes suddenly tears came springing.
"Emily--I feel--bad about this! I'm sorry for you! I know how I
felt when I saw--about Johnnie--in that paper. And it's worse for a
girl!"
"Cora, honestly, I don't think Martha intends marrying Johnnie. I
only wish she did!"
"You aren't worried about her, Emily?"
"Oh _yes_! I'm worried. I'm--sick--about this, Cora. Don't say a
word to anyone yet! I'll tell you all about it. I'll tell you what
to say to people for me--as soon as I can! I haven't had time--even
to talk to her yet--since I saw it in the paper! Martha'll apologize
to you, Cora; I'm sure she will!"
"Oh, don't worry about that, Emily! I know just how you feel!
Haven't I cried myself to sleep often enough about that boy to
understand!"
Emily had opened her red eyes in astonishment at this statement.
"You might be thankful she's a girl. I'll tell you now, Emily, since
this has happened--that I've told Johnnie plainly if he doesn't
settle down and do some work next term, I'll never leave him a cent.
I'll leave my money to charity. I'd rather leave it to the town
council to manage. When I think of the man my father was----" She
spoke sniffling, wiping her eyes angrily. Emily had to comfort her.
"Oh, well, Cora, he's young yet."
"No, he isn't young. He's at least two years behind most boys. He
ought to have finished college two years ago. Look at Jim Black.
Look at Wilton! I tried to have a serious talk with him when he came
home. If only he'd take something seriously. Why can't he take up
medicine? I asked him why he wouldn't take up law and go into
politics. And he said maybe he would. He said, Emily, 'Look where
Landis got to by being a lawyer!'" She almost sobbed. "He meant
that horrid federation of baseball clubs. He was serious about that."
"But, Cora, he is a good boy. He has a nice disposition."
"Oh yes. I know what people say. He needs it, they say, to live
with me. But they never think what patience _I_ need. Emily, I'd be
ashamed to tell you how much he spent last year. I don't know what
to do with him. I can't threaten to take him out of college--he
doesn't want to go back, anyway. He'll _have_ to go back! He's just
_got_ to get his degree. And now Bob goes and encourages him. He
says he'll support him!"
"Cora, Bob was just excited. He didn't mean that. He wouldn't
support him a minute, really. He lost his head, really."
"Well, so did I. I acknowledge that. But it's a nice thing to have
him telling me not to interfere. As if it was none of my business
when my own boy married. I've got a headache, Emily. I had a bad
night. He brought me my breakfast himself and was so nice about
everything. And then--I was napping--he tore into the room with the
paper in his hand and said he was going to get married right
away--the first I'd heard of it. And he wouldn't listen to me. He
acted awful. I just got up and dressed and came over this way." She
made a gesture towards the old blue foulard she had slipped on. Her
hair wasn't so brushed and shining as usual, and her face was lined
now, and her eyes red. "I thought I ought to tell you."
"Cora, why don't you go and see a doctor in Chicago? You aren't
well. You are tired out, and he oughtn't to have excited you this
way. I think you ought to go home and go to bed, and I'll come over
and tell you later everything Bob says to French. I'll talk to
Johnnie, too. I think Bob will be sorry he said such things, Cora,
when he cools down."
"He'd better cool down. The idea of him speaking to Martha that way!
I felt sorry for her, and for you too, Emily. It's bad enough to
have to try to raise a child without a father to interfere all the
time. You've got them both on your hands to manage."
"I don't know about that!" Emily started to protest, loyally. They
were standing face to face in front of the screen door, and they saw
Eve drive up and come towards them. She had been crying, too. She
spoke to them quietly, going into the living room. Mrs. Benton went
away, and Emily came in and sat down by her, and almost at once Eve
had insinuated herself into Emily's arms, crying:
"Oh, don't blame _me_ for this, Mrs. Kenworthy. I _told_ Martha this
would happen. I told her as sure as she lived something like this
would happen."
"Something like what? Don't cry, child!"
Bob was coming in.
"We----, I've settled Johnnie," he announced. And then he saw Eve,
and the sight displeased him.
"What do you know about this?" he demanded, shortly.
"Don't blame _me_! I _did_ tell her! I told her it would happen.
Maybe I didn't tell her enough."
"Enough what?"
"I mean--I didn't tell her, really, it had happened before."
"What had?" Bob scorned vagueness.
"I told her my sister was--jealous. I told her she couldn't stand
that pig even looking at a woman. I told her if he did, she was sure
to make a row. She's done this before."
"What has she done before?"
"Once before she got jealous--of a girl--and she threatened
to--divorce him."
"You mean--she named her--as a corespondent?" Bob had no scruples
about cross-examining this witness.
"She threatened to. She hadn't any case, really. Oh!" Eve cried to
Emily. "You didn't like me for not liking her. You thought
I--said--nasty things about her--because she was my sister. If you
knew what I might have said, you wouldn't have always been looking at
me that way--as if I was a sort of underbred scrub! I tell you she's
despicable!"
"Oh, Eve!" Emily protested.
"What's she done?" cried Bob, eagerly.
"Oh, she's awful! Look at this dirty work. Dad'll make her
apologize. I know he will, Mrs. Kenworthy. I've telegraphed for him
to come home. He'll come right away. He'll think grandma's dying."
"What?" cried Bob. "What'll he do, Eve?"
"I know dad'll settle it. I know he will. She never meant to
divorce him. She just wants to frighten Martha because she's got
money."
"You mean---- Isn't she going to divorce him?" Bob insisted.
"No. Don't you ever think she is! Oh----" cried Eve, in bitter
humiliation, as if now she was compelled to confess the worst, "Mrs.
Kenworthy, she--she LOVES that pig! You Wouldn't believe it, maybe.
She cries herself sick if he looks at anybody! And ever since she
heard that Martha's got money she's been just wild."
"What's that got to do with it?"
An outraged parent on either side of Eve was trying to grasp the
situation.
"She knows he won't--leave her, or anything, for anybody without any
money. She thinks Martha's going to be awfully rich. I didn't know
how much she was going to have. _I_ couldn't tell her."
Emily sat silenced by the very vileness of life. To think of
Martha's money, her great-grandfather's hard-earned money, lying
there accumulating through those years of her sweet childhood, to
become now a factor in this--pollution of her. Pollution, pollution,
said Emily to herself.