“Oh!” Her eyes were hot with tears; angry tears. She would not for the wealth of that desert let him see her cry. This was so different from what she had expected. This was what he had come to say. She could not speak, nor would not. She sat in her spoiled doll’s house, all her pleasure in her toy dishes, her pretty finery, ruined. She would no longer meet his eyes; mocking, forever, let them be! She had been so proud of her managing, and here he listens to the complaints of a Chinese cook! Complaints against her, against Gerty Holmes, the girl he had once loved! He could not care if he could humiliate her so. She stared at her hands lying limp over the hand-whipped negligee. The azure hue of the silk slip beneath had lost its charm to her. It was the most vivid moment of her life. Not even when Rickard had left her, with his kisses still warm on her lips, had she felt so outraged. He was treating her as though she were a servant—discharging her—because she was the wife of Hardin. Her eyes grew black with anger; she hated them both; between them, their jealousy, their rivalry, what had they made of her life? She suddenly realized that she was old. If she were young, he would not flout her like this. She remembered the woman she had seen in his ramada; she had heard that the Mexican was in camp, employed by Rickard. Her thoughts were like swarming hornets.
“He’s an ungrateful beast, Mrs. Hardin, if he doesn’t appreciate your labors. I’d let him struggle alone. As I say, we’ve spoiled him.”
“He has been complaining?” It was all she could say with control.
“He’s a tyrant. I told him I would not let you waste your kindness one instant longer—”
Oh, she understood! A bitter pleasure to see him so confused. Rickard, before whose superior appraisement she had so often wilted! She would not help him out, never! She rose when he paused. He thanked her for meeting him half-way, and her smile was inscrutable.
“So I’m discharged?”
He misunderstood her dignity, as before he had misconstrued her flirtations.
Gerty drooped under the sudden coming of age. She knew she must be old.
“Or he would not treat me so! he would not treat me so!”
“You can’t be discharged, if you’ve never been employed, can you? Thank you once again, and for your tea. It was delicious. I wish Ling would give us tea like that.”