"And for very little
money, my dear. And a good deal of that--" he cleared his throat--"had to
go back into the business."
"I see," said Edith mechanically. Her mind was already far away, roving
over her plans for the children. For in Roger's look of suspense she
plainly read that other plans had been made for them in her absence.
"Deborah's in this!" flashed through her mind. "Tell me what it will mean,"
she said.
"I'm afraid you'll have to try to do without your nurse for a while."
"Let Hannah go? Oh, father!" And Edith flushed with quick dismay. "How can
I, dad? Five children--five! And two of them so little they can't even
dress themselves alone! And there are all their meals--their baths--and the
older ones going uptown to school! I can't let them go way uptown on the
'bus or the trolley without a maid--"
"But, Edith!" he interrupted, his face contracting with distress. "Don't
you see that they can't go to school?" She turned on him. "Uptown, I mean,
to those expensive private schools."
"Father!" she demanded. "Do you mean you want my children to go to common
public schools?" There was rage and amazement upon her pretty countenance,
and with it an instant certainty too. Yes, this was Deborah's planning! But
Roger thought that Edith's look was all directed at himself. And for the
first time in his life he felt the shame and humility of the male provider
no longer able to provide.
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