"I may be very old-fashioned," she remarked to her father, "but I can't get
used to this idea that a woman's place is in headlines. And I think it's
rather hard on you--the use she's making of your house."
One Friday night when she came to play chess, she found her father in the
midst of a boisterous special meeting of his club of Italian boys. It had
been postponed from the evening before. And though Roger, overcome with
dismay at having forgotten Edith's night, apologized profusely, the
time-honored weekly game took place no more from that day on.
"Edith's pretty sore," said Bruce, who dropped in soon afterwards. "She
says Deborah has made your house into an annex to her school."
Roger smoked in silence. His whole family was about his ears.
"My boy," he muttered earnestly, "you and I must stick together."
"We sure must," agreed his son-in-law. "And what's more, if we're to keep
the peace, we've got to try to put some punch into Deborah's so-called love
affair. She ought to get married and settle down."
"Yes," said Roger, dubiously. "Only let's keep it to ourselves."
"No chance of that," was the cheerful reply. "You can't keep Edith out of
it. It would only make trouble in _my_ family." Roger gave him a pitying
look and said,
"Then, for the Lord's sake, let her in!"
So they took Edith into their councils, and she gave them an indulgent
smile.
"Suppose you leave this to me," she commanded.
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