"Tell me," Elaine cried, "Is there--can there be anything in it?
No--no--there isn't!"
Bennett spoke in a low tone. "I have heard a whisper of some
scandal or other connected with your father--but--" He paused.
Elaine was first shocked, then indignant.
"Why--such a thing is absurd. Show the woman in!"
"No--please--Miss Dodge. Let me deal with her."
By this time Elaine was furious.
"Yes--I WILL see her."
She pressed the button on Bennett's desk and Milton responded.
"Milton, show the--the woman in," she ordered, "and that boy,
too."
As Milton turned to crook his finger at "Weepy Mary," she nodded
surreptitiously and dug her fingers sharply into "son's" ribs.
"Yell--you little fool,--yell," she whispered.
Obedient to his "mother's" commands, and much to Milton's disgust,
the boy started to cry in close imitation of his elder.
Elaine was still holding the paper in her hands when they entered.
"What does all this mean?" she demanded.
"Weepy Mary," between sobs, managed to blurt out, "You are Miss
Elaine Dodge, aren't you? Well, it means that your father married
me when I was only seventeen and this boy is his son--your half
brother."
"No--never," cried Elaine vehemently, unable to restrain her
disgust. "He never married again. He was too devoted to the memory
of my mother.
Pages:
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150