That done, she would be in a position to
defy Kirk and all his antagonistic views on the subject of the hygienic
upbringing of children.
She rapped the table and prepared to speak.
Even a Napoleon, however, may err from lack of sufficient information;
and there was a flaw in her position of which she was unaware. From the
beginning of the drive to the end of it Ruth had hardly spoken a word,
and Mrs. Porter, in consequence, was still in ignorance of what had
been happening that day in Wall Street and the effect of these
happenings on her niece's outlook on life. Could she have known it, the
silent girl beside her had already suffered the relapse which she had
feared as a remote possibility.
Ruth's mind during that drive had been in a confusion of regrets and
doubts and hopes. There were times when she refused absolutely to
believe the story of Kirk's baseness which her aunt poured into her ear
during the first miles of the journey. It was absurd and incredible.
Yet, as they raced along the dark roads, doubt came to her and would
not be driven out.
A single unfortunate phrase of Kirk's, spoken in haste, but remembered
at leisure, formed the basis of this uncertainty. That afternoon when
he had left her he had said that Mamie was the real mother of the
child. Could it be that Mamie's undeviating devotion to the boy had won
the love which she had lost? It was possible.
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