“I shall be twenty-one, sir, in a little less than a year, and, according to the law of the land, my own mistress. I shall not then need to obtain the consent of any one in order to do as I like with my money. On the twentieth of November next Earle Wayne will receive his ten thousand dollars, with a year’s interest added. That is the best I can do.”
Then, without waiting for Mr. Dalton to reply, and wholly ignoring his dark looks, she turned to Mr. Felton, with one of her charming smiles, and said:
“We will drop our business for to-day; and, as there is the lunch-bell, won’t you come out and try the merits of a cup of coffee and a plate of chicken salad?”
The lawyer regarded her with a gleam of admiration in his fine old eyes; he had not thought she possessed so much character.
“No, I thank you,” he replied, thinking it best to get out of the tempest as soon as practicable. “You know it is the day before Christmas, and that is usually a busy time; besides, I have another engagement in half an hour, and there is barely time to reach my office. You will also excuse me for to-morrow,” he added, in a lower tone; and Editha knew that, after what had occurred to-day, it would be no pleasure to him to dine with them, as she had asked him to do. She knew, too, that her little plan regarding making a pleasant day for Earle was blighted.
He bowed coldly to Mr. Dalton, and Editha followed him to the door.
“Do not worry over what you cannot help, Miss Editha; eleven months won’t be so very long to wait, and, meanwhile, if you will send young Wayne to me, I think I can put him in a way to keep his head above water until that time,” he said, kindly, as he shook her hand in farewell at the door.
Editha thanked him, with tears in her eyes, and then would have sought her own rooms, but she heard her father calling her, and so she returned to the library, though she dreaded another scene.
“A fine spectacle you have made of yourself to-day,” were the sneering, angry words which greeted her entrance.
She walked quietly to where he sat, and stood before him; but two very bright spots now relieved her unusual paleness.