It was out at last. Harvey sat there staring at him, very still; such a pathetic figure that it seemed like rank cowardice to strike again. And yet Fairfax, now that he had begun, was eager to go on striking this helpless, inoffensive creature with all the frenzy of the brutal victor who stamps out the life of his vanquished foe.
“She supports you. You haven’t earned a dollar in four years. I have it from her, and from others. It is commonly understood that you won’t work, you won’t do a stroke toward supporting the child. You are a leech, a barnacle, a—a—well, a loafer. If you had a drop of real man’s blood in you, you’d get out and earn enough to buy clothes for yourself, at least, and the money for a hair cut or a shoe shine. She has been too good to you, my little man. You can’t blame her for getting tired of it. The great wonder is that she has stood for it so long.”
Words struggled from Harvey’s pallid lips.
“But she loves me,” he said. “It’s all understood between us. I gave her the start in life. She will tell you so. I––” 86
“You never did a thing for her in your life,” broke in the big man, harshly. He was consumed by an ungovernable hatred for this little man who was the husband of the woman he coveted.
“I’ve always wanted to get a job. She wouldn’t let me,” protested Harvey, a red spot coming into each of his cheeks. “I don’t want to take the money she earns. I never have wanted to. But she says my place is here at home, with Phoebe. Somebody’s got to look after the child. We’ve talked it over a––”
“I don’t want to hear about it,” snapped Fairfax, hitting the arm of his chair with his fist. “You’re no good, that’s all there is to it. You are a joke, a laughing stock. Do you suppose that she can possibly love a man like you? A woman wants a man about her, not the caricature of one.”
“I intend to get a job as soon as––” began Harvey, as if he had not heard a word his visitor was saying.
“Now, see here,” exclaimed Fairfax, coming to his feet. “I’m a man of few words. I came out here to make you a proposition. It is between you and me, and no one need be the 87 wiser. I’m not such a fool as to intrust a thing of this kind to an outsider. Is there any likelihood of any one hearing us?”
Nellie’s husband shrank lower into his chair and shook his head. He seemed to have lost the power of speech. Fairfax drew a chair up closer, however, and lowered his voice.