“Lem?”
“Yes. He was at the door while your back was turned. He saw, and heard, too. So there you are! Nothing left but to clear out.”
Henrietta pleaded with him.
“But not this way, Freeman! Wait. Take the money back and to-morrow I'll borrow some. I 'll coax it out of Lorna, or Gay. Or even Johnnie Alberson; I believe I could get some out of him. Please, Freeman!”
“Et, you make me tired,” Freeman said. “I've got the cash and I'm going to skip out before this night is over. That's flat, and if you don't like it, you can lump it, and if you don't like it lumped, you can roll it out and fry it. I'm sick of this and I'm going to vamoose. I'm going over to say good-bye to Gay and then I'm going.”
“Freeman!” she cried, “I knew you were a despicable creature, but I never, never, never thought you were quite as low as this!”
“Oh, cut the melodrama, Et!” he said, and while she sat looking at him helplessly he went out of the room.
It was after this scene that she had to sit listening to Johnnie Alberson, making conversation with him while her thoughts were on Freeman.
From where she sat she could see Gay's white dress as a spot against the dark brick of the house across the way, and that spot she watched, all her plans in chaos, knowing only that if the spot disappeared she must rush across and keep Gay safe, no matter what else happened. When she returned from Lem's room, she looked across with fear, and breathed her thanks, for Gay was still there.
Almost immediately Freeman came across the street. He was not in a pleasant mood.