“All right, I’m listening.”
He said, “Carlotta — Mrs. Ashbury — is a marvellous woman, charming, magnetic, beautiful. Since her marriage I’ve seen her change.”
“You said all that before.”
His lips were trembling with rage. “And the reason for it all is the hostility of that spoiled brat.”
“Meaning Alta?” I asked.
“Meaning Alta.”
“Didn’t Mrs. Ashbury take that possibility into consideration before the marriage?”
He said, “At the time of the marriage, Alta had abandoned her father, gone off chasing a good time around the world without caring a snap of her fingers about her dad, but the minute he married Carlotta and she started making him a home, Alta came dashing back and started playing the part of the devoted daughter. Gradually, bit by bit, she’s been poisoning her father’s mind against Mrs. Ashbury. Carlotta is sensitive and—”
“Why tell me all this?” I asked.
“I thought you should know it.”