Mrs. Mortimer Crabb,
Dear Madam:
I have in my possession twenty-one letters and notes written by you to Mr. Heywood Pennington, formerly of Philadelphia. Kindly acknowledge receipt of this communication and bring to this office, in person, on Wednesday of next week, five thousand dollars in cash or the letters will be mailed to Mr. Crabb.
(Signed) John Doe,
Care of Fairman and Brooke,
No. —— Liberty Street.
There in her fingers it flaunted its brutality. What could it mean? Her letters? To Heywood Pennington? Why—they were only notes—harmless little records of their friendship. What had she said? How had this odious Doe——?
It was a week since she had seen the prodigal. They had quarreled some days ago, for Mr. Pennington’s lazy humor had turned to a reckless unconvention which had somewhat startled her. Her secret declaration of independence had led her a little out of her depth, and she began to feel more and more like the child with the jam-pot—only the jam-pot was out of all proportion to real jam-pots and the smears seemed to defy the most generous use of soap and water. This horrible Doe was the neighbor’s boy who told, and Mortimer Crabb was suddenly invested with a newly-born parental dignity and wisdom. Mort! It made her shudder to think of her husband receiving those letters. She knew him so well and yet she knew him so little. She felt tempted to throw all else to the winds and make a full confession—of what? of a childish ingenuousness—which confession would magnify a hundred-fold. What had she to confess? Meetings in the Park? Her face burned with shame. It would have seemed less childish if her face had burned with shame at things a little more tangible. Lunches in out-of-the-way restaurants, innocent enough in themselves, whose only pleasure was the knowledge that she took them unpermitted. She knew that she deserved to be stood in the corner or be sent to bed without her supper, but she quailed at the thought of meeting her husband’s eye. She knew that he could make it singularly cold and uncompromising.
And the letters. Why hadn’t Heywood burned them? And yet why should he have? Pennington’s ideas of a compromising position she realized, with some bitterness, differed somewhat from hers. And she knew she couldn’t have written anything to regret. She tried to think, and a phrase here and there recurred to her. Perhaps Mort might know her well enough to guess how little they meant—but perhaps he didn’t. Words written to another were so desperately easy to misunderstand.
How could these letters have fallen into the hands of a stranger? The more she thought of it the more impenetrable became the mystery. How could this villainous Doe have guessed her identity? A few of these letters were signed merely “Patty,” but most of them were not signed at all. It was dreadful to be insulted with no redress at any hand. Five thousand dollars! The very insignificance of the figures made her position worse. Was this the value of her reputation? Truly her fortunes had sunk to their lowest ebb. She tried to picture John Doe, a small ferret of a man with heavy eyes, red hair, and a rumpled shirt-front, sitting in a dingy office up three flights of stairs, fingering her little scented notes with his soiled fingers. Oh, it was horrible—horrible! Yet how could she escape? Would she not tarnish her soul still more by paying the wretched money—Mort’s money—in forfeit of her disobedience to him? Every instinct revolted at the thought. Wouldn’t it be better after all to throw herself upon Mort’s mercy? She knew now how much bigger and better he was than anything else in the world. She loved him now. She knew it. There wouldn’t ever be any more might-have-beens. She longed to feel his protecting arms about her and hear his quiet steady voice in her ears, even though it was to scold her for the mere child that she was. His arms seemed the greater sanctuary now—now that she was not sure that they ever could be opened to her. Still clasping the letter she buried her face in the pillows of her couch and wept. That night she sent down word that she had a headache, but a night’s rest did wonders. A cheerful, smiling person descended on Crabb in the midst of his morning coffee.
“What! Patty! At the breakfast table? Will the wonders never cease?”
“I didn’t come to breakfast, Mort. I wanted to see you before you went out.”