"No, I didn't know it," he curtly returned, his shrewd eyes still studying her costume.
"Of course," Helen went on, "going before such audiences, I am obliged to dress well; but"—with an air of quiet dignity, for she felt that the man was rude to her—"as I earn all my own clothes, as well as Dorothy's, I am wronging no one."
"Humph!" Nathan Young grunted, although his glance softened; for truly Helen was very pleasant to look upon as she stood before him in her trailing gown of soft blue silk, tastefully trimmed with real lace that had belonged to her mother; she also wore some fine jewels which had come to her from the same source, and the man, now that he comprehended, secretly liked her spirit and frankness in telling him just how matters stood.
She showed a turn for business that pleased him, and he chuckled within himself over her statement that she earned all her own and Dorothy's clothes. Money getting had been his one aim from his youth up; he liked to see people work hard for money; he had no patience with drones. He had always viewed John's idiotic dabbling in paints with undisguised contempt, and had never shown the least interest in his career as an artist.
Presently he broke forth, almost sharply:
"Where is that husband of yours?"
"John? Hasn't he been at the office to-day?" Helen inquired, in a startled tone.
"I've seen nothing of him for nearly a week," the gentleman replied, with a frown of displeasure.
"You have not seen John for nearly a week!" repeated the astonished wife, aghast.
"That is what I said," was the curt rejoinder. "And this isn't the first time he has neglected his business, by any means, though he has never stayed away so long before. I'm tired of his shilly-shallying, and he has always worked with an air of protest, as if he felt the position beneath him. I just dropped in to see if he were ill, or had any good reason to offer for his absence."