“Who was shut with you in that closet?” she demanded in a shaking voice. “Barbara, there is another wreched Man in all this. It could not have been Mr. Beecher, because he has been in the Station House all night.”
I sat up, leaning on one elbow, and looked at her ernestly.
“Mother,” I said, “you have done enough damage, interfering with Careers—not only mine, but another’s imperiled now by not haveing a last Act. I can tell you no More, except”—here my voice took on a deep and intence fiber—“that I have done nothing to be ashamed of, although unconventional.”
Mother put her hands to her Face, and emited a low, despairing cry.
“Come,” Leila said to her, as to a troubled child. “Come, and Hannah can use the vibrater on your spine.”
So she went, but before she left she said:
“Barbara, if you will only promise to be a good girl, and give us a chance to live this Scandle down, I will give you anything you ask for.”
“Mother!” Sis said, in an angry tone.
“What can I do, Leila?” mother said. “The girl is atractive, and probably men will always be following her and making trouble. Think of last Winter. I know it is Bribery, but it is better than Scandle.”
“I want nothing, mother,” I said, in a low, heartstricken tone, “save to be allowed to live my own life and to have a Career.”