“Mrs. Mercer! Why, what was she angry about?”
“She wasn’t—at least, not at first. It was I. I went to see her and she asked me to thank you for stopping that fight on the coal conspiracy.”
“That was tactful of her,” Howard said, turning away to hide his nervousness.
“And I told her that you had not stopped, that you wouldn’t stop until you had broken it up. And she smiled in a superior way and said I was quite mistaken, that I didn’t read the paper, I haven’t read it for several days, but I knew you, dear, and I remembered what you had said. And so we just had it. We were polite but furious when I went. I shall never go near her again.”
“But, unfortunately, we have stopped. We had to do it. We could accomplish nothing.”
“Oh, it doesn’t matter. What angered me was her insinuation.”
“That was irritating. But, tell me, what if it had been true?” Howard’s voice was strained and he was looking at her eagerly, with fever in his eyes.
“But it couldn’t be. It isn’t worth while imagining. You could not be a coward and a traitor.” So complete was her confidence in him that suspicion of him was impossible.
“Would you sit in judgment on me?”
“Not if I could help it.”