“Your claim seems justified by facts,” he said. “I would suggest——”
“What?”
“That you set the machinery in motion to have Mr. Burnham placed under mental observation,” he added reluctantly.
Mrs. Burnham averted her gaze. “Only as a last resource,” she said. “At present I wanted your views to assist me in deciding upon a course of action.” She paused and he waited with silent attention. It was some moments before she spoke again. “My daughter, Evelyn, wishes to announce her engagement to Captain La Montagne to-day.”
“Oh!” Hayden sat back and contemplated her in surprise.
“Quite so.” Mrs. Burnham’s smile was wintry. “Evelyn’s behavior complicates the situation,” she admitted with candor. “I have had quite enough gossip about my private affairs;” her tone grew bitter. “People perhaps do not think I know the things which were said at the time my engagement to Mr. Burnham was announced, but there are always kind friends;” she laughed mirthlessly. “Women do not spare their own sex, doctor; even my daughter’s intimate friend, Marian Van Ness, stated I only married Peter to get rid of him.”
The frantic ringing of the telephone bell interrupted her, and with a hasty apology Hayden crossed the room to the instrument. Mrs. Burnham seized the opportunity to relax in her chair; the interview had taxed her strength. Happening to glance in the direction of the door she saw the Japanese servant pass down the hall, long wall brush and dust pan in hand; another instant and Dr. Hayden was back at her side.
“Evelyn is in a state of mind to do anything,” she stated, as he resumed his seat. “She is quite as possessed in favor of Captain La Montagne as my husband is opposed to him.”
“A pleasant situation for you,” acknowledged Hayden, and his sympathetic manner was a tonic to her frayed nerves. “Do you anticipate an elopement?”
“No, oh, no.” Mrs. Burnham spoke more rapidly than ordinarily. “Evelyn simply desires the immediate public announcement of her engagement under, in my opinion, a mistaken sense of loyalty to Captain La Montagne. I have begged her to tell only her intimate friends and relatives——”