Be recovering, proves fatal. Notable phases of a remarkable career. 14 страница

he, Lester Kane. It set him thinking. Certainly he was paying

dearly for trying to do the kind thing by Jennie.

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Chapter 41

But worse was to follow. The American public likes gossip about wellknown

people, and the Kanes were wealthy and socially prominent. The

report was that Lester, one of its principal heirs, had married a servant

girl. He, an heir to millions! Could it be possible? What a piquant morsel

for the newspapers! Very soon the paragraphs began to appear. A small

society paper, called the South Side Budget, referred to him anonymously

as "the son of a famous and wealthy carriage manufacturer of Cincinnati,"

and outlined briefly what it knew of the story. "Of Mrs. ——" it

went on, sagely, "not so much is known, except that she once worked in

a well-known Cleveland society family as a maid and was, before that, a

working-girl in Columbus, Ohio. After such a picturesque love-affair in

high society, who shall say that romance is dead?"

Lester saw this item. He did not take the paper, but some kind soul

took good care to see that a copy was marked and mailed to him. It irritated

him greatly, for he suspected at once that it was a scheme to blackmail

him. But he did not know exactly what to do about it. He preferred,

of course, that such comments should cease, but he also thought that if

he made any effort to have them stopped he might make matters worse.

So he did nothing. Naturally, the paragraph in the Budget attracted the

attention of other newspapers. It sounded like a good story, and one

Sunday editor, more enterprising than the others, conceived the notion

of having this romance written up. A full-page Sunday story with a

scare-head such as "Sacrifices Millions for His Servant Girl Love," pictures

of Lester, Jennie, the house at Hyde Park, the Kane manufactory at

Cincinnati, the warehouse on Michigan Avenue—certainly, such a display

would make a sensation. The Kane Company was not an advertiser

in any daily or Sunday paper. The newspaper owed him nothing. If

Lester had been forewarned he might have put a stop to the whole business

by putting an advertisement in the paper or appealing to the publisher.

He did not know, however, and so was without power to prevent

the publication. The editor made a thorough job of the business. Local

newspaper men in Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus were instructed

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to report by wire whether anything of Jennie's history was known in

their city. The Bracebridge family in Cleveland was asked whether Jennie

had ever worked there. A garbled history of the Gerhardts was obtained

from Columbus. Jennie's residence on the North Side, for several

years prior to her supposed marriage, was discovered and so the whole

story was nicely pieced together. It was not the idea of the newspaper

editor to be cruel or critical, but rather complimentary. All the bitter

things, such as the probable illegitimacy of Vesta, the suspected immorality

of Lester and Jennie in residing together as man and wife, the real

grounds of the well-known objections of his family to the match, were ignored.

The idea was to frame up a Romeo and Juliet story in which

Lester should appear as an ardent, self-sacrificing lover, and Jennie as a

poor and lovely working-girl, lifted to great financial and social heights

by the devotion of her millionaire lover. An exceptional newspaper artist

was engaged to make scenes depicting the various steps of the romance

and the whole thing was handled in the most approved yellow-journal

style. There was a picture of Lester obtained from his Cincinnati photographer

for a consideration; Jennie had been surreptitiously "snapped"

by a staff artist while she was out walking.

And so, apparently out of a clear sky, the story appeared—highly complimentary,

running over with sugary phrases, but with all the dark, sad

facts looming up in the background. Jennie did not see it at first. Lester

came across the page accidentally, and tore it out. He was stunned and

chagrined beyond words. "To think the damned newspaper would do

that to a private citizen who was quietly minding his own business!" he

thought. He went out of the house, the better to conceal his deep inward

mortification. He avoided the more populous parts of the town, particularly

the down-town section, and rode far out on Cottage Grove Avenue

to the open prairie. He wondered, as the trolley-car rumbled along, what

his friends were thinking—Dodge, and Burnham Moore, and Henry

Aldrich, and the others. This was a smash, indeed. The best he could do

was to put a brave face on it and say nothing, or else wave it off with an

indifferent motion of the hand. One thing was sure—he would prevent

further comment. He returned to the house calmer, his self-poise restored,

but he was eager for Monday to come in order that he might get

in touch with his lawyer, Mr. Watson. But when he did see Mr. Watson it

was soon agreed between the two men that it would be foolish to take

any legal action. It was the part of wisdom to let the matter drop. "But I

won't stand for anything more," concluded Lester.

"I'll attend to that," said the lawyer, consolingly.

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Lester got up. "It's amazing—this damned country of ours!" he exclaimed.

"A man with a little money hasn't any more privacy than a public

monument."

"A man with a little money," said Mr. Watson, "is just like a cat with a

bell around its neck. Every rat knows exactly where it is and what it is

doing."

"That's an apt simile," assented Lester, bitterly.

Jennie knew nothing of this newspaper story for several days. Lester

felt that he could not talk it over, and Gerhardt never read the wicked

Sunday newspapers. Finally, one of Jennie's neighborhood friends, less

tactful than the others, called her attention to the fact of its appearance

by announcing that she had seen it. Jennie did not understand at first. "A

story about me?" she exclaimed.

"You and Mr. Kane, yes," replied her guest. "Your love romance."

Jennie colored swiftly. "Why, I hadn't seen it," she said. "Are you sure

it was about us?"

"Why, of course," laughed Mrs. Stendahl. "How could I be mistaken? I

have the paper over at the house. I'll send Marie over with it when I get

back. You look very sweet in your picture."

Jennie winced.

"I wish you would," she said, weakly.

She was wondering where they had secured her picture, what the article

said. Above all, she was dismayed to think of its effect upon Lester.

Had he seen the article? Why had he not spoken to her about it?

The neighbor's daughter brought over the paper, and Jennie's heart

stood still as she glanced at the title-page. There it all

was—uncompromising and direct. How dreadfully conspicuous the

headline—"This Millionaire Fell in Love With This Lady's Maid," which

ran between a picture of Lester on the left and Jennie on the right. There

was an additional caption which explained how Lester, son of the famous

carriage family of Cincinnati, had sacrificed great social opportunity

and distinction to marry his heart's desire. Below were scattered a number

of other pictures—Lester addressing Jennie in the mansion of Mrs.

Bracebridge, Lester standing with her before an imposing and

conventional-looking parson, Lester driving with her in a handsome victoria,

Jennie standing beside the window of an imposing mansion (the

fact that it was a mansion being indicated by most sumptuous-looking

hangings) and gazing out on a very modest working-man's cottage pictured

in the distance. Jennie felt as though she must die for very shame.

She did not so much mind what it meant to her, but Lester, Lester, how

219

must he feel? And his family? Now they would have another club with

which to strike him and her. She tried to keep calm about it, to exert

emotional control, but again the tears would rise, only this time they

were tears of opposition to defeat. She did not want to be hounded this

way. She wanted to be let alone. She was trying to do right now. Why

couldn't the world help her, instead of seeking to push her down?

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Chapter 42

The fact that Lester had seen this page was made perfectly clear to Jennie

that evening, for he brought it home himself, having concluded, after

mature deliberation, that he ought to. He had told her once that there

was to be no concealment between them, and this thing, coming so brutally

to disturb their peace, was nevertheless a case in point. He had decided

to tell her not to think anything of it—that it did not make much

difference, though to him it made all the difference in the world. The effect

of this chill history could never be undone. The wise—and they included

all his social world and many who were not of it—could see just

how he had been living. The article which accompanied the pictures told

how he had followed Jennie from Cleveland to Chicago, how she had

been coy and distant and that he had to court her a long time to win her

consent. This was to explain their living together on the North Side.

Lester realized that this was an asinine attempt to sugar-coat the true

story and it made him angry. Still he preferred to have it that way rather

than in some more brutal vein. He took the paper out of his pocket when

he arrived at the house, spreading it on the library table. Jennie, who was

close by, watched him, for she knew what was coming.

"Here's something that will interest you, Jennie," he said dryly, pointing

to the array of text and pictures.

"I've already seen it, Lester," she said wearily. "Mrs. Stendahl showed

it to me this afternoon. I was wondering whether you had."

"Rather high-flown description of my attitude, isn't it? I didn't know I

was such an ardent Romeo."

"I'm awfully sorry, Lester," said Jennie, reading behind the dry face of

humor the serious import of this affair to him. She had long since learned

that Lester did not express his real feeling, his big ills in words. He was

inclined to jest and make light of the inevitable, the inexorable. This light

comment merely meant "this matter cannot be helped, so we will make

the best of it."

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"Oh, don't feel badly about it," he went on. "It isn't anything which can

be adjusted now. They probably meant well enough. We just happen to

be in the limelight."

"I understand," said Jennie, coming over to him. "I'm sorry, though,

anyway." Dinner was announced a moment later and the incident was

closed.

But Lester could not dismiss the thought that matters were getting in a

bad way. His father had pointed it out to him rather plainly at the last interview,

and now this newspaper notoriety had capped the climax. He

might as well abandon his pretension to intimacy with his old world. It

would have none of him, or at least the more conservative part of it

would not. There were a few bachelors, a few gay married men, some

sophisticated women, single and married, who saw through it all and

liked him just the same, but they did not make society. He was virtually

an outcast, and nothing could save him but to reform his ways; in other

words, he must give up Jennie once and for all.

But he did not want to do this. The thought was painful to

him—objectionable in every way. Jennie was growing in mental acumen.

She was beginning to see things quite as clearly as he did. She was not a

cheap, ambitious, climbing creature. She was a big woman and a good

one. It would be a shame to throw her down, and besides she was goodlooking.

He was forty-six and she was twenty-nine; and she looked

twenty-four or five. It is an exceptional thing to find beauty, youth, compatibility,

intelligence, your own point of view—softened and charmingly

emotionalized—in another. He had made his bed, as his father had

said. He had better lie on it.

It was only a little while after this disagreeable newspaper incident

that Lester had word that his father was quite ill and failing; it might be

necessary for him to go to Cincinnati at any moment. Pressure of work

was holding him pretty close when the news came that his father was

dead. Lester, of course, was greatly shocked and grieved, and he returned

to Cincinnati in a retrospective and sorrowful mood. His father

had been a great character to him—a fine and interesting old gentleman

entirely aside from his relationship to him as his son. He remembered

him now dandling him upon his knee as a child, telling him stories of his

early life in Ireland, and of his subsequent commercial struggle when he

was a little older, impressing the maxims of his business career and his

commercial wisdom on him as he grew to manhood. Old Archibald had

been radically honest. It was to him that Lester owed his instincts for

plain speech and direct statement of fact. "Never lie," was Archibald's

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constant, reiterated statement. "Never try to make a thing look different

from what it is to you. It's the breath of life—truth—it's the basis of real

worth, while commercial success—it will make a notable character of

any one who will stick to it." Lester believed this. He admired his father

intensely for his rigid insistence on truth, and now that he was really

gone he felt sorry. He wished he might have been spared to be reconciled

to him. He half fancied that old Archibald would have liked Jennie if he

had known her. He did not imagine that he would ever have had the opportunity

to straighten things out, although he still felt that Archibald

would have liked her.

When he reached Cincinnati it was snowing, a windy, blustery snow.

The flakes were coming down thick and fast. The traffic of the city had a

muffled sound. When he stepped down from the train he was met by

Amy, who was glad to see him in spite of all their past differences. Of all

the girls she was the most tolerant. Lester put his arms about her, and

kissed her.

"It seems like old times to see you, Amy," he said, "your coming to

meet me this way. How's the family? I suppose they're all here. Well,

poor father, his time had to come. Still, he lived to see everything that he

wanted to see. I guess he was pretty well satisfied with the outcome of

his efforts."

"Yes," replied Amy, "and since mother died he was very lonely."

They rode up to the house in kindly good feeling, chatting of old times

and places. All the members of the immediate family, and the various relatives,

were gathered in the old family mansion. Lester exchanged the

customary condolences with the others, realizing all the while that his

father had lived long enough. He had had a successful life, and had

fallen like a ripe apple from the tree. Lester looked at him where he lay

in the great parlor, in his black coffin, and a feeling of the old-time affection

swept over him. He smiled at the clean-cut, determined, conscientious

face.

"The old gentleman was a big man all the way through," he said to

Robert, who was present. "We won't find a better figure of a man soon."

"We will not," said his brother, solemnly.

After the funeral it was decided to read the will at once. Louise's husband

was anxious to return to Buffalo; Lester was compelled to be in Chicago.

A conference of the various members of the family was called for

the second day after the funeral, to be held at the offices of Messrs.

Knight, Keatley & O'Brien, counselors of the late manufacturer.

223

As Lester rode to the meeting he had the feeling that his father had not

acted in any way prejudicial to his interests. It had not been so very long

since they had had their last conversation; he had been taking his time to

think about things, and his father had given him time. He always felt

that he had stood well with the old gentleman, except for his alliance

with Jennie. His business judgment had been valuable to the company.

Why should there be any discrimination against him? He really did not

think it possible.

When they reached the offices of the law firm, Mr. O'Brien, a short,

fussy, albeit comfortable-looking little person, greeted all the members of

the family and the various heirs and assigns with a hearty handshake.

He had been personal counsel to Archibald Kane for twenty years. He

knew his whims and idiosyncrasies, and considered himself very much

in the light of a father confessor. He liked all the children, Lester

especially.

"Now I believe we are all here," he said, finally, extracting a pair of

large horn reading-glasses from his coat pocket and looking sagely

about. "Very well. We might as well proceed to business. I will just read

the will without any preliminary remarks."

He turned to his desk, picked up a paper lying upon it, cleared his

throat, and began.

It was a peculiar document, in some respects, for it began with all the

minor bequests; first, small sums to old employees, servants, and friends.

It then took up a few institutional bequests, and finally came to the immediate

family, beginning with the girls. Imogene, as a faithful and loving

daughter was left a sixth of the stock of the carriage company and a

fourth of the remaining properties of the deceased, which roughly aggregated

(the estate—not her share) about eight hundred thousand dollars.

Amy and Louise were provided for in exactly the same proportion.

The grandchildren were given certain little bonuses for good conduct,

when they should come of age. Then it took up the cases of Robert and

Lester.

"Owing to certain complications which have arisen in the affairs of my

son Lester," it began, "I deem it my duty to make certain conditions

which shall govern the distribution of the remainder of my property, to

wit: One-fourth of the stock of the Kane Manufacturing Company and

one-fourth of the remainder of my various properties, real, personal,

moneys, stocks and bonds, to go to my beloved son Robert, in recognition

of the faithful performance of his duty, and one-fourth of the stock

of the Kane Manufacturing Company and the remaining fourth of my

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various properties, real, personal, moneys, stocks and bonds, to be held

in trust by him for the benefit of his brother Lester, until such time as

such conditions as may hereinafter be set forth shall have been complied

with. And it is my wish and desire that my children shall concur in his

direction of the Kane Manufacturing Company, and of such other interests

as are entrusted to him, until such time as he shall voluntarily relinquish

such control, or shall indicate another arrangement which shall

be better."

Lester swore under his breath. His cheeks changed color, but he did

not move. He was not inclined to make a show. It appeared that he was

not even mentioned separately.

The conditions "hereinafter set forth" dealt very fully with his case,

however, though they were not read aloud to the family at the time, Mr.

O'Brien stating that this was in accordance with their father's wish.

Lester learned immediately afterward that he was to have ten thousand a

year for three years, during which time he had the choice of doing either

one of two things: First, he was to leave Jennie, if he had not already

married her, and so bring his life into moral conformity with the wishes

of his father. In this event Lester's share of the estate was to be immediately

turned over to him. Secondly, he might elect to marry Jennie, if he

had not already done so, in which case the ten thousand a year, specifically

set aside to him for three years, was to be continued for life—but for

his life only. Jennie was not to have anything of it after his death. The ten

thousand in question represented the annual interest on two hundred

shares of L. S. and M. S. stock which were also to be held in trust until

his decision had been reached and their final disposition effected. If

Lester refused to marry Jennie, or to leave her, he was to have nothing at

all after the three years were up. At Lester's death the stock on which his

interest was drawn was to be divided pro rata among the surviving

members of the family. If any heir or assign contested the will, his or her

share was thereby forfeited entirely.

It was astonishing to Lester to see how thoroughly his father had taken

his case into consideration. He half suspected, on reading these conditions,

that his brother Robert had had something to do with the framing

of them, but of course he could not be sure. Robert had not given any

direct evidence of enmity.

"Who drew this will?" he demanded of O'Brien, a little later.

"Well, we all had a hand in it," replied O'Brien, a little shamefacedly.

"It was a very difficult document to draw up. You know, Mr. Kane, there

was no budging your father. He was adamant. He has come very near

225

defeating his own wishes in some of these clauses. Of course, you know,

we had nothing to do with its spirit. That was between you and him. I

hated very much to have to do it."

"Oh, I understand all that!" said Lester. "Don't let that worry you."

Mr. O'Brien was very grateful.

During the reading of the will Lester had sat as stolid as an ox.

He got up after a time, as did the others, assuming an air of nonchalance.

Robert, Amy, Louise and Imogene all felt shocked, but not exactly,

not unqualifiedly regretful. Certainly Lester had acted very badly. He

had given his father great provocation.

"I think the old gentleman has been a little rough in this," said Robert,

who had been sitting next him. "I certainly did not expect him to go as

far as that. So far as I am concerned some other arrangement would have

been satisfactory."

Lester smiled grimly. "It doesn't matter," he said.

Imogene, Amy, and Louise were anxious to be consolatory, but they

did not know what to say. Lester had brought it all on himself. "I don't

think papa acted quite right, Lester," ventured Amy, but Lester waved

her away almost gruffly.

"I can stand it," he said.

He figured out, as he stood there, what his income would be in case he

refused to comply with his father's wishes. Two hundred shares of L. S.

and M. S., in open market, were worth a little over one thousand each.

They yielded from five to six per cent., sometimes more, sometimes less.

At this rate he would have ten thousand a year, not more.

The family gathering broke up, each going his way, and Lester returned

to his sister's house. He wanted to get out of the city quickly,

gave business as an excuse to avoid lunching with any one, and caught

the earliest train back to Chicago. As he rode he meditated.

So this was how much his father really cared for him! Could it really

be so? He, Lester Kane, ten thousand a year, for only three years, and

then longer only on condition that he married Jennie! "Ten thousand a

year," he thought, "and that for three years! Good Lord! Any smart clerk

can earn that. To think he should have done that to me!"

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Chapter 43

This attempt at coercion was the one thing which would definitely set

Lester in opposition to his family, at least for the time being. He had realized

clearly enough of late that he had made a big mistake; first in not

having married Jennie, thus avoiding scandal; and in the second place in

not having accepted her proposition at the time when she wanted to

leave him; There were no two ways about it, he had made a mess of this

business. He could not afford to lose his fortune entirely. He did not

have enough money of his own. Jennie was unhappy, he could see that.

Why shouldn't she be? He was unhappy. Did he want to accept the

shabby ten thousand a year, even if he were willing to marry her? Finally,

did he want to lose Jennie, to have her go out of his life once and for

all? He could not make up his mind; the problem was too complicated.

When Lester returned to his home, after the funeral, Jennie saw at once

that something was amiss with him, something beyond a son's natural

grief for his father's death was weighing upon his spirits. What was it,

she wondered. She tried to draw near to him sympathetically, but his

wounded spirit could not be healed so easily. When hurt in his pride he

was savage and sullen—he could have struck any man who irritated

him. She watched him interestedly, wishing to do something for him, but

he would not give her his confidence. He grieved, and she could only

grieve with him.

Days passed, and now the financial situation which had been created

by his father's death came up for careful consideration. The factory management

had to be reorganized. Robert would have to be made president,

as his father wished. Lester's own relationship to the business would

have to come up for adjudication. Unless he changed his mind about Jennie,

he was not a stockholder. As a matter of fact, he was not anything.

To continue to be secretary and treasurer, it was necessary that he should

own at least one share of the company's stock. Would Robert give him

any? Would Amy, Louise, or Imogene? Would they sell him any? Would

the other members of the family care to do anything which would infringe

on Robert's prerogatives under the will? They were all rather

227

unfriendly to Lester at present, and he realized that he was facing a ticklish

situation. The solution was—to get rid of Jennie. If he did that he

would not need to be begging for stock. If he didn't, he was flying in the

face of his father's last will and testament. He turned the matter over in

his mind slowly and deliberately. He could quite see how things were

coming out. He must abandon either Jennie or his prospects in life. What

a dilemma!

Despite Robert's assertion, that so far as he was concerned another arrangement

would have been satisfactory, he was really very well pleased

with the situation; his dreams were slowly nearing completion. Robert

had long had his plans perfected, not only for a thorough reorganization

of the company proper, but for an extension of the business in the direction

of a combination of carriage companies. If he could get two or three

of the larger organizations in the East and West to join with him, selling

costs could be reduced, over-production would be avoided, and the general

expenses could be materially scaled down. Through a New York

representative, he had been picking up stock in outside carriage companies

for some time and he was almost ready to act. In the first place he

would have himself elected president of the Kane Company, and since

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