CHAPTER XV
A SCANDAL SCOTCHED
Before the door of the room opened Tolliver heard the high-pitched voice of his daughter.
“If you’d only stood up to him, Bob—if you’d shot him or fought him ... lemme go, Jake. You got no right to take me with you. Tell you I’m married.... Yes, sir, I’ll love, honor, an’ obey. I sure will—in sickness an’ health—yes, sir, I do....”
The father’s heart sank. He knew nothing about illness. A fear racked him that she might be dying. Piteously he turned to the doctor, after one look at June’s flushed face.
“Is she—is she—?”
“Out of her head, Mr. Tolliver.”
“I mean—will she—?”
“Can’t promise you a thing yet. All we can do is look after her and hope for the best. She’s young and strong. It’s pretty hard to kill anybody born an’ bred in these hills. They’ve got tough constitutions. Better take a chair.”
Tolliver sat down on the edge of a chair, nursing his hat. His leathery face worked. If he could only take her place, go through this fight instead of her. It was characteristic of his nature that he feared and expected the worst. He was going to lose her. Of that he had no doubt. It would be his fault. He was being punished for the crimes of his youth and for the poltroonery that had kept him from turning Jake out of the house.