And
angrily he determined that they should not starve to pay Laura's bills.
"The world for the strong, eh? Not in my office!" In Rome or Berlin or
Vienna, all right! But not over here!
Grimly, when he had made out the checks, Roger eyed his balance. By spring
he would be penniless. And he had no one to turn to now, no rich young
son-in-law who could aid.
He set himself doggedly to the task of forcing up his business, and
meanwhile in the evenings he tried with Edith to get back upon their former
footing. To do this was not easy at first, for his bitterness still rankled
deep: "When you were in trouble I took you in, but when she was in trouble
you turned her out, as you turned out John before her." In the room again
vacated, young George had been reinstalled. One night Edith found her
father there looking in through the open doorway, and the look on his
massive face was hard.
"Better have the room disinfected again," he muttered when he saw her. He
turned and went slowly down the stairs. And she was late for dinner that
night.
But Edith had her children. And as he watched her night by night hearing
their lessons patiently, reading them fairy stories and holding them
smilingly in her arms, the old appeal of her motherhood regained its hold
upon him. One evening when the clock struck nine, putting down his paper he
suggested gruffly,
"Well, daughter, how about some chess?"
Edith flushed a little:
"Why, yes, dear, I'd be glad to.
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