"Well, that is true," acknowledged Mrs. Kirtley. "I never saw a more faithful nurse."
"So he says. He claims that Margaret has herself told him repeatedly that the old woman knows better what to do with the child than she does."
"As if that proved anything! Every young mother has to learn. The man is a brute! Will he take Philip at once?"
"Oh, no! A will must always be admitted to probate before anybody can have any rights under it. And when it is we will be there to contest it."
"Have you talked with Margaret?"
"No. She is to come to the office this afternoon."
When he laid the case before her there Margaret listened in silence. Her excitement of the day before was gone. In fact Judge Kirtley would have been glad to see her more moved than she was. Her calmness seemed almost like despair.
"I knew he would not do it," she said. "He means us harm."
"Well, just for the present, my dear, I seem to have been unsuccessful, but I have by no means given up hope of its being compromised."
"What reason does he give for persisting in taking Philip from me?"