Beckoning the conductor, who was passing through the car, she said, quietly:
"Kindly tell this person my name and standing."
Standish winced under the contemptuous epithet, "person," and glared at the conductor, who turned to him and said:
"Mrs. A. T. Fitzgerald, formerly of New York, now of Chicago, was the wife, now the widow, of A. T. Fitzgerald, the foremost banker and capitalist of Chicago."
Standish bowed without a word. He saw the impassable gulf of wealth and social position yawning between him and pretty Geraldine, but he swore to himself that he would not give her up.
Mrs. Fitzgerald thanked the conductor, and added:
"No doubt you are familiar with the circumstances of my first marriage, and—divorce. Kindly tell him these also."
The conductor looked embarrassed, but she smiled at him encouragingly, and said:
"Do as I ask you, please. It is indeed a favor."
"Mrs. Fitzgerald's first husband was Howard Harding, of New York, from whom she obtained a divorce ten or eleven years ago."