CHAPTER XVII
MRS. FABIAN'S SCHEME
Mrs. Fabian chanced to meet Edgar as he was leaving the house immediately after this interview. She had heard the closing of the library door, and the expression of her son's excited face, as he strode by her, was such that she let him go in silence.
She knew Kathleen was with her father, and she was only too willing to use the girl as a buffer when Edgar was the subject of conversation.
She moved about restlessly until she heard Kathleen leave the den and close the door softly behind her. Then she waylaid her daughter at the foot of the staircase. By the soft light of the electric lantern, she could see that the girl's eyes were red.
"Come right up to my room," she whispered, excitedly, as if the very walls had ears. "I just met Edgar."
They ascended in silence and Mrs. Fabian led the way into her boudoir, started an electric fan, and turned on the light.
"Has his father cut him off?" she asked, facing Kathleen, her gaze wide with dread.
"No, oh, no." The girl sank into a chair. "It was awful, but I hope it is the beginning of better things. Did you know that Edgar had begun to work with his voice?"