Then Bob cried, "The damned skunk!"
"Kenworthy! You must be—careful! That's why Elinor's teeth ache!" His earnestness startled them. "Elinor's teeth are all out, but they all still ache! It's nerves. They call it hysteria! They can't do anything for her. Not in Europe, even. It's because she fell in love with that first scoundrel. He broke her heart, as they say. She lived with him two years, and there was nothing left of her. They mean he broke her nerve, her temper, her character—everything! I tell you she was a magnificent girl, Kenworthy! She had more common sense than any girl I ever saw! She was a partner to me, more than a daughter. And there's nothing left of her but toothache! I wouldn't have—anything—happen to Martha!"
He was so distressed that Emily heard herself saying: "Oh, she'll be all right. Martha's all right. Don't worry."
"But they take it so hard. They fall so in earnest. Look here, Mrs. Kenworthy, you don't want him around—in town, do you? You want him to clear out?"
"Oh yes!"
"Very well, then. He won't come back. I won't let him set foot in this town again. There are some limits to what I'll stand from him."
"Are you going to see him? Where is he now?" Bob asked.
"I think he's with Elinor. You never can know, exactly. But I'll see him."
"Tell him for me that if he doesn't let Martha alone, I'll kill him—married or divorced."
"I'll tell him something worse than that! You needn't worry." He spoke grimly. A smile that was surprisingly evil came over his round face. "I'd like to tell you what I did to the first man. It would comfort you. But it's a secret."