––You won’t listen? But you must. This is all 146 up to you. You commanded. I obeyed. Say, dad, she’s an angel. I’m madly in love with her.
––Who is she? Well, er, I really don’t know––that is, her first name is Sadie. I–––
––Sadie what? Sadie Omaha––I mean she lives in Omaha.
––What is her last name and who are her people? To tell you the truth I haven’t found that out yet. I–––
––I’m an ass?––a blankety, blank ass? Just wait till you see her! I met her up at Travers Gladwin’s, and–––
––Travers is in Egypt! No, yes, of course he is, but–––
The final outburst of paternal expletive fairly hurled Whitney Barnes from the phone.
“There, by thunder! He’s rung off in a rage.”
“There’s the ungrateful parent for you!” he muttered as he made his way back to Gladwin’s drawing room. “Here I’ve gone and broken my neck to fall in love for him and that’s all the thanks I get for it. Well, I’ll marry her in spite of him, if he doesn’t leave me a dollar. I could starve in a garret with her, and if I got too dreadfully hungry I could eat her. Hi, ho! but, say, Mr. Whitney Barnes, you had better switch off some of these lights. This house isn’t supposed to be occupied.”
He left just one heavily shaded bronze lamp abeam. Then he carefully drew all the curtains across the windows 147 and tiptoed about the room with the air of a sinister conspirator. He stopped in front of the great, mysterious-looking chest to one side of the entrance to the hallway, lifted the heavy lid and looked in.