 
The author of this telegram, which was delivered on the morning of Lucinda's fifth day in Chicago, was punctual to the minute of his appointment; otherwise he would hardly have been the rectilinear gentleman of the frock-coat school that he was. Notwithstanding that Harford Willis was pledged to a code of morals and manners vinted in the early Eighteen-Eighties, and so implacably antagonistic to the general trend of present-day thought on the divorce question, his great affection for Lucinda predisposed him to allow that the course she had taken with Bellamy had been the only one his conduct had left open to her. On the other hand he was unhappily unable to hide the disconcertion inspired by the simple gladness of her greeting, the spontaneity of which was in such marked contrast to his own well-composed demeanour of honorary pall-bearer at a fashionable funeral. "If you only knew how good it is to see a friendly face for the first time in a whole week!" "But, my dear Lucinda," Willis intoned deliberately in his well-modulated voice of a public speaker, "I must say you seem to be bearing up remarkably well, all things considered, re-mark-ably well." "I've stopped howling and drumming the floor with my heels," Lucinda admitted—"if that's what you mean. When I found it didn't do any good, I gave it up, and I've felt more cheerful ever since." "Cheerful!" Willis repeated in a sepulchral voice. "More like an average human being who's been horribly hurt but who can't see why life should be counted a total loss for all that; less like the wronged wife in a movie, mugging at a camera." "But, my poor child! how you must have suffered." "Let's not talk about that, please," Lucinda begged. "It only makes me vindictive to remember; and I don't want to feel that way about Bel, I don't want to be unjust. It's bad enough to have to be just." "Must you?" Willis asked, shaking a commiserative head. "Yes." Lucinda met his skeptical old eyes with eyes of clear candour. "Absolutely," she added with a finality not to be discredited. Willis sighed heavily, released her hand, sat down, and meticulously adjusted the knees of striped grey trousers. "I will confess I had hoped to find you of another mind." "I'm sorry. Please don't think me hard or unforgiving, but ... I've had plenty of time to mull things over, you know; and I know I couldn't consider going back to Bel, no matter what he might be ready to promise. Bel can't keep a promise, not that kind, at least." "I feel sure you wrong him there; it's true I don't know your husband as well as I know you, my dear, but I assure you that amongst men he has the reputation of a man of honour." "Man of honour meaning, I presume, one who won't cheat another man but will cheat a woman." "Oh, come! that's a bit sweeping." "The men who know Bel know how he's been treating me—all New York knows! If he treated them as treacherously, would they call him a man of honour?" Willis gave a vague gesture of deprecation, and Lucinda laughed a little, but not in mirth. "Women are at least more honest among themselves; if a woman knows another who isn't playing fair with her husband, she either keeps quiet about it or calls her a cat, and lets it go at that—she doesn't call her a woman of honour." "You don't think it would be worth while," Willis suggested as one in duty bound, "to forgive Bellamy, give him another chance?" "I don't know I've got anything to forgive him, Mr. Willis. Bel did the best he could. And that's the whole trouble. Why should I forgive him for being true to himself? It's myself I can't forgive, because I was silly enough to let him go on as long as I did, making me a laughing-stock.... Besides, I'm not so sure it's good for us to be forgiven our sins; we're all such vain creatures, we're too apt to take forgiveness as a license to misbehave still more.... Don't you see?" "I see you are beginning to formulate a philosophy of life." "Isn't it about time?" "You will need it, my dear, if you mean to fight this out alone. Philosophy is good medicine only for lonely hearts. The others it merely hardens." Lucinda eyed Willis sharply. "Bel has been to see you." "He looked me up," Willis admitted in mild surprise, "two days after your disappearance, thinking you might have communicated with me. Of course, I could tell him nothing. But how did you know——?" "That suggestion, the underlying thought that I might not be intending to fight out my fight alone—that originated with Bel, didn't it?" "Well!" Willis stammered, trying to smile disarmingly—"I confess——" "It wasn't enough, of course, that I should have found Bel out for the dozenth time, there had to be a lover in my background to account for my leaving him! Did he mention any name?" Willis made a negative sign. "Bellamy didn't imply—he merely said he was afraid——" "It doesn't matter. What else did he have to say?" "He seemed most remorseful——" "I know how remorseful Bel can seem." "And determined——" "In what way?" "To find you——" "He'd only be wasting his time." "He spoke of employing detectives to trace you, when I assured him I knew nothing of your whereabouts and that when—and if—I did hear from you, I would necessarily be guided by your wishes." "Thank you," said Lucinda. "It wouldn't do Bel any good to see me; it would only irritate him to find I could hold out against a plea he made in person." "I understand," Willis agreed; and then with a quizzical look: "You seem to know your own mind, young woman; so I shan't attempt to advise you. But would you mind telling me what you have decided to do?" "I shall divorce Bel, of course." "You don't think it might be advisable to wait a while? It makes me very sad to think of you in relation to divorce proceedings. But then, of course, I belong to a generation that viewed divorce in a different light." Lucinda was silent. "Ah, well!" Willis sighed, and renounced hope then and there—"if you must, you must, I presume; and I will do my best to serve your wishes, my dear. Only tell me how...." "Why, naturally, I want to get it over with as quickly and quietly as possible, with the minimum amount of public scandal." "Then you won't sue in New York State." "Why not?" "Its laws recognize only one ground for absolute divorce." "No," Lucinda concluded thoughtfully; "I'd rather not drag others into the case, I'd rather get my freedom, if I can, without making anybody unhappy, more than us two." "The laws of the State of Nevada are most liberal. But it would be necessary for you to establish a legal residence by living in Reno for, I believe, six months." "I suppose that's unavoidable." "I will look up the most reputable firm of lawyers there, and recommend you to them. If you find yourself in need of other advice, write or telegraph me and I will come out to confer with you." "I hope I won't have to impose on your kindness to that extent." Willis blinked, removed the gold-rimmed pince-nez of his fading day, and polished the lenses with a silk handkerchief. "I should not consider it an imposition, but a privilege, Lucinda. I can think of nothing I wouldn't do for your father's daughter, or for yours, if you had one." "Thank God I haven't!" "I'm afraid I can't say Amen to that. But then, as I have already remarked, I am in many respects a survival, an interesting one, I trust, but a survival none the less, of a conservative-minded generation." He replaced the glasses. "Is there anything else, my dear? If so, we can take it up over our luncheon. That is to say, I am hoping you will find it convenient and agreeable to lunch with me today." Bowing punctilious acknowledgment of Lucinda's acceptance, he sat back and joined the fingers of both hands at his chin. "And now," he pursued—"if you don't mind satisfying an inquisitive old man—I would very much like to know what you propose to do with your freedom, when you get it." Lucinda jumped up and turned away with a quaver of desolation. "Ah, I wish you hadn't asked me! That's what I'm trying all the time to forget——" "I thought so." "The emptiness to come!... What can a woman do to round out her life when she's lost her husband and is fit for nothing but to be a wife?" "She can find another husband. Many do." "Marry again!" A violent movement of Lucinda's hands abolished the thought. "Never that! I'm through with love for good and all." "No doubt," agreed the student of law and life. "But are you sure that love is through with you?" |
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