“Not what you mean! I mean, did you guess that she might be a—relative of Harrison’s?”
The young lawyer stared at Landis for a moment with angry eyes. Abruptly his expression lightened and he laughed.
“Look here, Mr. Landis, I’m not a fool! Of course I guessed it! That’s why, without his asking it, I volunteered not to speak to her at all of his interest. On the other hand I asked him for permission, after we were married, to bring her out to meet him as a friend and a valued client.”
“What was the idea of that?”
Again Graham stared, this time suspiciously.
“It’s fairly obvious, I should think. You’ve seen Ethel. Nobody could help liking her. Of course I wanted him to see her! Neither of us is over-supplied with money, though I have enough for us both. If Harrison was her—was a relation and grew fond of her, anything he did for her of his own free will was so much the better! On the other hand, in order to avoid even the suspicion of blackmail, I sought for no link between them and stipulated that our visit be after our marriage, when it was up to me to support her anyway.”
“Entirely ethical and extremely considerate,” Landis smiled. “What did he say to that?”
“He looked me up and down for quite a while and I think he saw clear through me. Anyhow he finally nodded and said: ‘All right, come and spend a week here if you like, after you’re married! That’ll save you the cost of a honeymoon!’ So I thanked him and got out!”
“Do you think he still had the idea that you might attempt to blackmail him?” asked Landis.
Graham shook his head.