Speaker 1: Chapter twenty nine of Cloudy Jewel. This is a LibriVox recording.
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Speaker 1: by Terra Mendoza. Cloudy Jewel by Grace Livingston Hill, Chapter
Speaker 1: twenty nine. Meantime, Allison was dashing over fallen trees, climbing rocks,
Speaker 1: and pushing his way between tangled vines and close grown
Speaker 1: laurel up and up through the College woods and a
Speaker 1: cross country in the direction of the quarry, a still
Speaker 1: wonderful place, like a cathedral, with a deep dark pool
Speaker 1: at the bottom of the massive stone walls. There were
Speaker 1: over arching pines, hemlocks, and oaks for vaulted roof, with
Speaker 1: the fresco of sky and flying cloud between. It was
Speaker 1: a wonderful place once when they had climbed there together
Speaker 1: and stood for a long time in silence, watching the
Speaker 1: shadows on the deep pool below, looking up to the
Speaker 1: arching green, and listening to the praisings of a song
Speaker 1: sparrow up above in some hidden choir. Jane had said
Speaker 1: that this was a place to come and worship, or
Speaker 1: to come when one was in trouble, a place where
Speaker 1: one might meet God. He had looked down at her
Speaker 1: sweet face upturned searching for the little thrilling singer, and
Speaker 1: had thought how sweet and wonderful she was, and how
Speaker 1: he wanted to tell her so and would some day,
Speaker 1: but must not. Yet He hadn't thought much about what
Speaker 1: she was saying. But now it came back, and he
Speaker 1: knew that she must have gone here with her trouble.
Speaker 1: He need not have worried about the quarry in the
Speaker 1: deep dark pool. He kept telling himself all the way
Speaker 1: up that he need not. But when he reached the
Speaker 1: top and came in sight of her, he knew it.
Speaker 1: Knew also that he had been sure of it all along.
Speaker 1: She was sitting on a great fallen log, quietly, calmly,
Speaker 1: with her back against an old night our old branch
Speaker 1: that rose in a convenient way, and her head was
Speaker 1: thrown back and up, as if she was seen wonderful
Speaker 1: visions somewhere among the green and the blue and white above.
Speaker 1: It was as if she had reached a higher plain
Speaker 1: where earthly annoyances do not come, and felt it good
Speaker 1: to be there. There was almost a smile on her
Speaker 1: beautiful lips, a strong, sweet, wistful smile. She had not
Speaker 1: been looking down at the deep, treacherous pool at all.
Speaker 1: She had been looking up, and her strength had come
Speaker 1: upon her. So for one long instant, the young man
Speaker 1: paused and lifted his hat, watching her in a kind
Speaker 1: of awe. Her face almost seemed to shine, as if
Speaker 1: she had been talking with God. He remembered dimly the
Speaker 1: story of Moses on the mount talking with God. He hesitated,
Speaker 1: almost to intrude upon a solitude so fine and wonderful. Then,
Speaker 1: in relief and eagerness, he spoke her name, Jane. She
Speaker 1: turned and looked at him, and her face lit up
Speaker 1: with joy. Oh, it is you. Why how did you happen?
Speaker 1: I came to find you, Jane, Leslie told me everything,
Speaker 1: and I have hunted everywhere. But when you were not
Speaker 1: at college, I somehow knew you would be here. I
Speaker 1: wanted to find you and infold you, Jane, wrap you
Speaker 1: around somehow with my love and care, if you will
Speaker 1: let me so that nothing like that can ever hurt
Speaker 1: you again. I love you, Jane. I suppose I'm a
Speaker 1: little previous in all that, being only a kid as
Speaker 1: it were, and neither of us out of college yet,
Speaker 1: But I sha'n't change, and I'll be hanged if I
Speaker 1: see why it isn't all right for me to have
Speaker 1: the right to protect you against such annoyances as this.
Speaker 1: He was beside her on the log now, his face
Speaker 1: burning eagerly with deep feeling, one arm protectingly behind her,
Speaker 1: the other hand laid strongly possessively over the small folded
Speaker 1: hands in her lap. Perhaps I'm taking a lot for granted,
Speaker 1: he said, humbly. Perhaps you don't love me, can't even
Speaker 1: like me the way I hoped you do. Oh, Jane,
Speaker 1: speak quick and tell me, darling, can you ever love
Speaker 1: me enough? You haven't drawn your hands away? Look up
Speaker 1: and let me read your eyes. Please. No, she had
Speaker 1: not drawn her hands away, and she did not shrink
Speaker 1: from his supporting arm. And she was the kind of
Speaker 1: girl who would not have allowed such familiarities unless. Ah,
Speaker 1: she had lifted her eyes, and there was something blindingly
Speaker 1: beautiful in them, and tears, great wonderful tears, so sweet
Speaker 1: and misty that they made him glad with a thrill
Speaker 1: of beautiful pain. Her lips were trembling. He longed to
Speaker 1: kiss her, yet he knew he must wait until he
Speaker 1: had her permission. Allison, listen, you are dear, wonderful, but
Speaker 1: you don't know a thing about me. I know all
Speaker 1: I want to know, and that is a great deal, you, darling. You.
Speaker 1: And now he did kiss her and drew her close
Speaker 1: into his arms and would not let her go, even
Speaker 1: when she struggled gently. Allison, listen, listen, please, I must
Speaker 1: tell you. Wait. She put her hands against his breast
Speaker 1: and pushed herself back away from him where she could
Speaker 1: look in his face. Please, you must let me go
Speaker 1: and listen to what I have to say. I'll let
Speaker 1: you go when you tell me yes or no. Jane,
Speaker 1: do you can you love me? I must know that first,
Speaker 1: then you shall have your way. Jane's eyes did not falter.
Speaker 1: She looked at him. You promised you know, Yes, Allison,
Speaker 1: I love you. But no, you must not kiss me again.
Speaker 1: You must let me go and listen. You promised, you know.
Speaker 1: Allison's arms dropped away from her, but his eyes held
Speaker 1: her in a law look of joy. All Right, Darling,
Speaker 1: go to it, he said, with a joyous sound in
Speaker 1: his voice. I can stand anything now. I know it
Speaker 1: seems to good, be true, and it's enough for me.
Speaker 1: But hurry, a fellow can't wait forever. No, Allison, you
Speaker 1: must sit back and be serious. It isn't really happy,
Speaker 1: you know what I have to tell you. Allison became
Speaker 1: grave at once. All Right, Jane, only, I can't imagine
Speaker 1: anything terrible enough to stop this happiness of mine unless
Speaker 1: you're already married and have been concealing it from us
Speaker 1: all this time in spite of herself. Jane laughed at that,
Speaker 1: and Allison breathed more freely. Now the tenseness was gone
Speaker 1: out of her voice. His hands went out and grasped hers.
Speaker 1: At least I can do this, he pleaded, And Jane
Speaker 1: lifted her eyes, now serious again, and smiled tenderly, letting
Speaker 1: her hands stay in his passively. Listen, Allison, my father,
Speaker 1: I know, Jane, dear, I heard it long ago. Your
Speaker 1: father was a forger. What do you suppose I care?
Speaker 1: He probably had some overpowering temptation and yielded, never dreaming,
Speaker 1: but he would be able to make it right. You
Speaker 1: can't make me believe that any parent of yours was
Speaker 1: actually bad, And besides, if he was, it wouldn't be you. Allison. Listen,
Speaker 1: broke in Jane, gravely, stopping the torrent of words with
Speaker 1: which he was attempting to silence her. It isn't what
Speaker 1: you think at all. My father wasn't a forger. He
Speaker 1: was a good man. He wasn't, exclaimed Allison joyously. Then
Speaker 1: whatn't thunder? Why didn't you tell him so, Jane? He
Speaker 1: tried to draw her to him, but she still resisted.
Speaker 1: That's just it, Allison. I can't. I never can. Well,
Speaker 1: then I will. You sha'n't have a thing like that
Speaker 1: hanging over you. But that is just what you must
Speaker 1: not do. And you can't do it either if I
Speaker 1: don't tell you about it, for you wouldn't have a
Speaker 1: thing to say, nor any way to prove it. And
Speaker 1: I won't tell you, Allison, ever, unless you will promise.
Speaker 1: Allison was sobered in an instant. Jane, don't you know
Speaker 1: me well enough to be sure I would not betray
Speaker 1: any confidence you put in me. I thought so, said Jane,
Speaker 1: smiling through her tears. Dear, said Allison, in a tone
Speaker 1: that was a caress full of longing and sympathy. Jane
Speaker 1: sat up bravely and began her story. When I was
Speaker 1: twelve years old, my mother died. That left father and
Speaker 1: me alone, and we became very close comrades. Indeed, he
Speaker 1: was a wonderful man. Allison's fingers answered with a warm
Speaker 1: pressure of sympathy and interest. He was father and mother
Speaker 1: both to me, and more and more we grew to
Speaker 1: confide in one another. I was interested in all his
Speaker 1: business and used to amuse my asking him about things
Speaker 1: at the office when he came home, the way mother
Speaker 1: used to when she was with us. He used to
Speaker 1: talk over all my school friends and interests, and we
Speaker 1: had beautiful times together. My father had a friend, a
Speaker 1: man who had grown up with him, lived next door
Speaker 1: and went to school with him when he was a boy.
Speaker 1: He was younger than father and well, not so serious.
Speaker 1: Father didn't always approve of what he did and used
Speaker 1: to urge him to do differently. He lived in the
Speaker 1: same suburb with us, and his wife had been a
Speaker 1: friend of mother's. She was a sweet, little childlike woman,
Speaker 1: very pretty and an invalid. They have one daughter, a
Speaker 1: girl about my age, and when we were children we
Speaker 1: used to play together, but as we grew older, Mother
Speaker 1: didn't care for us to be together much. She thought
Speaker 1: it was better for us not to and as the
Speaker 1: years went by, we didn't have much to do with
Speaker 1: one another. Her father was the only one who kept
Speaker 1: up the acquaintance, and sometimes I used to think he
Speaker 1: worried my father every time he came to the house.
Speaker 1: One day, when I was about fourteen, he came in
Speaker 1: the afternoon, just after I got home from school, and
Speaker 1: said he wanted to see Father as soon as he
Speaker 1: came home. Couldn't I telephone Father and ask him to
Speaker 1: come home at once, that there was some one there
Speaker 1: wanting to see him on important business. He finally called
Speaker 1: him up himself, and when Father got there, they went
Speaker 1: into a room by themselves and talked until late into
Speaker 1: the night, when at last mister, that is, the man
Speaker 1: went away. Father did not go to bed, but walked
Speaker 1: up and down the floor in his study all night long.
Speaker 1: Toward morning, I could not stand it any longer. I
Speaker 1: knew my father was in trouble, so I went down
Speaker 1: to him, and when I saw him, I was terribly frightened.
Speaker 1: His face was white and drawn, and his eyes burned
Speaker 1: like coals of fire. He looked at me with a
Speaker 1: look that I never shall forget. He took me in
Speaker 1: his arms and lifted up my face away. He often
Speaker 1: had when he was in earnest, and he seemed to
Speaker 1: be looking down into my very soul, little girl. He said,
Speaker 1: we're in deep trouble. I don't know whether I've done
Speaker 1: right or not. There was something in his voice that
Speaker 1: made me tremble all over, and he saw I was
Speaker 1: frightened and tried to be calm himself. Jane, he said.
Speaker 1: He always called me Janey when he was deeply moved. Jane,
Speaker 1: it may hit hardest on you. And though I met
Speaker 1: your life to be so safe and happy. I tried
Speaker 1: to tell him it didn't matter about me, and for
Speaker 1: him not to be troubled, but he went on telling
Speaker 1: about it. It seems the father of this man had
Speaker 1: once done a great deal for my father when he
Speaker 1: was in a very trying situation. And father always felt
Speaker 1: an obligation to look after the Sun. Indeed, he had
Speaker 1: promised when the old man was dying that he would
Speaker 1: be a brother to him no matter what happened. And
Speaker 1: now the Sun had been speculating and got deep into debt.
Speaker 1: He had formed some kind of stock company, something to
Speaker 1: do with Western land and mines. I never fully understood
Speaker 1: it all, but there had been a lot of fraudulent dealing.
Speaker 1: Although Father only suspected that at the time, but anyway,
Speaker 1: everything was going to fall through and the man was
Speaker 1: going to be brought up in disgrace before the world
Speaker 1: if somebody didn't help him out, and Father felt obliged
Speaker 1: to stand by him. Of course, he did not know
Speaker 1: how bad it was, because the man had not told
Speaker 1: him all the truth. But Father had taken over the
Speaker 1: obligations of the whole thing. He thought he might be
Speaker 1: able to pull the thing out of trouble by putting
Speaker 1: a good deal of his own money into it and
Speaker 1: make it a fair and square proposition for all the
Speaker 1: stockholders without their ever finding out that everything had been
Speaker 1: on the verge of going to pieces. You see, the
Speaker 1: man had put it up to father very eloquently that
Speaker 1: his wife was very ill in the hospital and if
Speaker 1: anything should happen to him and he were arrested, it
Speaker 1: could not be kept from her and she would die.
Speaker 1: It's true, she was very critically ill, had just been
Speaker 1: through a severe operation, and was very frail. Indeed, Father
Speaker 1: felt it was up to him to shoulder the whole responsibility,
Speaker 1: although of course he felt that the man richly deserved
Speaker 1: the law to the full. Nevertheless, because of his promise,
Speaker 1: he stood by him that night. The man was killed
Speaker 1: in an automobile accident soon after leaving our house. And
Speaker 1: when it developed that the business was built on a
Speaker 1: rotten foundation and that Father was in partnership. You see,
Speaker 1: the man had been very wily and had his papers
Speaker 1: all fixed up so that it looked as if Father
Speaker 1: had been a silent partner from the beginning. Everything came
Speaker 1: back on Father, and he found there were overwhelming debts
Speaker 1: that he had not been told about, although he supposed
Speaker 1: he had sifted the business to the foundation and understood
Speaker 1: it all before he made the agreement to help him.
Speaker 1: Perhaps if the man had lived, he would have been
Speaker 1: able to carry him his crooked dealings through and save
Speaker 1: the whole thing with what help Father had given him,
Speaker 1: and neither Father nor the world would ever have found out.
Speaker 1: I don't know, But anyway, his dying just then made
Speaker 1: the whole thing fall in ruins and right on top
Speaker 1: of Father. But even that we could have stood. We
Speaker 1: didn't care so much about money. Father was well off,
Speaker 1: and he found that if he put in everything, he
Speaker 1: could satisfy the creditors and pay off everything. And he
Speaker 1: had courage enough to be planning to start all over again,
Speaker 1: but suddenly it turned out that there had been a
Speaker 1: check forged for a large amount, and it all looked
Speaker 1: as if Father had done it. I can't go into
Speaker 1: the details now, but we were suddenly face to face
Speaker 1: with the fact that there was no evidence to prove
Speaker 1: that he had not been a hypocrite all these years
Speaker 1: except his own life. He thought for a few days that,
Speaker 1: of course, that would put him beyond suspicion, but do
Speaker 1: you know, the world is very hard. One of father's
Speaker 1: best friends, one he thought was a friend, came to
Speaker 1: him and offered to go bail for him for my sake,
Speaker 1: if he would just tell him the whole truth and
Speaker 1: own up. There was only one way, and that was
Speaker 1: to go to the man's wife and try to get
Speaker 1: certain papers which Father knew were in existence because he
Speaker 1: had seen them, and which he had supposed were left
Speaker 1: in his own safe the night the man talked with him,
Speaker 1: but which could not be found as the wife had
Speaker 1: just been brought back from the hospital and was still
Speaker 1: in very critical condition. Father would not do more than
Speaker 1: ask if he could go through the house and search,
Speaker 1: and that woman sent back a very indignant refusal. Charging
Speaker 1: father with having been at the bottom of her husband's
Speaker 1: failure and even the cause of his death, and telling
Speaker 1: him he had pauperized her and her little helpless daughter,
Speaker 1: and the daughter began treating me as a stranger. Whenever
Speaker 1: we chanced to meet, Allison's face darkened and his eyes
Speaker 1: looked stern and hard. He said something under his breath angrily.
Speaker 1: Jane couldn't catch the words, but he drew her close
Speaker 1: in his arms and help or tenderly. And were those
Speaker 1: papers never found, dear, he asked after a moment, Yes,
Speaker 1: said Jane, wearily, resting her head back against his shoulder.
Speaker 1: I found them after father died. You found them, Yes,
Speaker 1: I found them slipped down behind the chest in the hall.
Speaker 1: It was a heavy oak chest, a great carved affair
Speaker 1: that had belonged in the family a long time, and
Speaker 1: it was seldom moved. It stood below the hat rack
Speaker 1: and the alcove in the hall. And I figured it
Speaker 1: out that the man must have meant to keep those
Speaker 1: papers himself so there would be no incriminating evidence in
Speaker 1: father's hands, and that he must have picked them up
Speaker 1: without father's noticing and started to carry them home, But
Speaker 1: that when he was going away putting on his overcoat.
Speaker 1: He had somehow dropped some of them behind that chest
Speaker 1: without knowing it, because they were not all there. Two
Speaker 1: of them were missing. Father had described them to me,
Speaker 1: and three, the most important ones with the emptied envelope,
Speaker 1: were found. The other two were probably larger and looked
Speaker 1: like the whole bundle, which explains how he came to
Speaker 1: think he had them all. But the two he had
Speaker 1: and must have had about him when he was killed,
Speaker 1: would not in themselves have been any evidence against him.
Speaker 1: So my father was arrested. The tears choked Jane's voice
Speaker 1: and suddenly reined into her sweet eyes as she struggled
Speaker 1: to recall the whole sorrowful experience. Oh my darling, cried Alison, tenderly,
Speaker 1: holding her close. Father was very brave, he said it
Speaker 1: was sure to come out all right, but he wouldn't
Speaker 1: accept bail, though it was offered him by several loyal friends.
Speaker 1: He saw that they suspected him, and the papers all
Speaker 1: came out with big headlines. Church Elder arrested. Allison's voice
Speaker 1: was deep with loving sympathy as his lips swept her
Speaker 1: forehead softly, and he murmured my poor little girl. But
Speaker 1: Jane went on bravely. That was a hard time, she said,
Speaker 1: with trembling lips. But God was good. He didn't let
Speaker 1: it last long. There came an old friend back from
Speaker 1: abroad who had known Father ever since he was a boy,
Speaker 1: and who happened to have been associated with him in
Speaker 1: business long enough to give certain proofs that cleared the
Speaker 1: whole thing up. In a week, the case was dismissed
Speaker 1: so far as Father was concerned, and he was back
Speaker 1: at home again and restored to the full confidence of
Speaker 1: his business associates, that is, those who knew intimately about
Speaker 1: the matter. If Father had lived, I have no doubt
Speaker 1: everything would have been all right, and he would have
Speaker 1: been able to live down the whole thing. But the
Speaker 1: trouble struck him hard. He was so terribly worried for
Speaker 1: my sake, you know. Then he took a little cold,
Speaker 1: which we didn't think anything about, and suddenly, before we
Speaker 1: realized it, he was down with double pneumonia, from which
Speaker 1: he never rallied. His vitality seemed to be gone. After
Speaker 1: he died, the papers said beautiful things about his bravery
Speaker 1: and courage and Christianity, and people tried to be nice.
Speaker 1: But when it was all over, there were still people
Speaker 1: who looked at me curiously when I passed and whispered
Speaker 1: noticeably together. And that man's wife and daughter openly called
Speaker 1: me a forger's daughter and said that my father had
Speaker 1: stolen their income, when all the time they were living
Speaker 1: on what he had given up to save them from disgrace.
Speaker 1: The daughter made it so unpleasant for me that I
Speaker 1: decided to go away where I was not known, although
Speaker 1: I had several dear, beautiful homes open to me. If
Speaker 1: I had chosen to stay where I might have been
Speaker 1: a daughter and treated as one of the other children.
Speaker 1: But I thought it was better to go away and
Speaker 1: make my own life. But you had evidence. Did you
Speaker 1: never go and tell those two how wrong they were
Speaker 1: and how it was their father, not yours, who was
Speaker 1: the forger? No, not exactly, said Jane, lifting clear and
Speaker 1: troubled eyes to his face. You see, that was part
Speaker 1: of father's obligation. It was a point of honor not
Speaker 1: to give that man shame away to his wife. He
Speaker 1: had promised, and then the man was dead. He could
Speaker 1: not be brought to justice. What good would it do?
Speaker 1: It would have done the good that those two women
Speaker 1: wouldn't have gone round snubbing you and telling lies about you.
Speaker 1: Oh well, after all that didn't really hurt me, And
Speaker 1: that brazen girl wouldn't have dared come here to the
Speaker 1: same college and make it hot for you. Allison, how
Speaker 1: did you know? Jane sat up and looked into his
Speaker 1: eyes startled. I knew from the first mention that it
Speaker 1: must have been Eugenia Fraser. No girl in her senses
Speaker 1: would have taken the trouble to do what she did
Speaker 1: to day without some grievance. Oh, that girl, she is
Speaker 1: beyond words. Think of anybody ever falling in love with her.
Speaker 1: I'd like the pleasure of informing her what her father was.
Speaker 1: Of course, though it wasn't her fault. She couldn't help
Speaker 1: her father being what he was, but she could help
Speaker 1: what she is herself. I should certainly like to see
Speaker 1: her get what's coming to her. Don't aliceon, please, it
Speaker 1: isn't the right spirit for us to have. Perhaps I'd
Speaker 1: be just like her if I were in her place.
Speaker 1: I see you being like her, you angel, and Allison
Speaker 1: leaned over again to look into the eyes of his
Speaker 1: beloved Well, dear, we'll get the right spirit about it
Speaker 1: somehow and forget her. But I mean she shall understand
Speaker 1: right where she gets off before this thing goes any further. No,
Speaker 1: you needn't protest. I'm not going to give away your confidence.
Speaker 1: But I'm going to settle that girl where she won't
Speaker 1: dare to make any more trouble for you ever again.
Speaker 1: And the first thing we're going to do is announce
Speaker 1: our engagement. I feel like going up to the college
Speaker 1: bulletin board write this minute and writing it out in great,
Speaker 1: big letters. Allison Jane sat up with shining eyes and
Speaker 1: her cheeks very red. Then they both broke down and laughed,
Speaker 1: Jane's merriment ending in a serious look. Allison, you really
Speaker 1: want me now that you know what people may think
Speaker 1: about my father, Jane, I've known all that since I
Speaker 1: first saw you. Our beloved pastor kindly informed me of
Speaker 1: it the night he introduced us, so you see how
Speaker 1: little weight it had with any of us. I had
Speaker 1: no knowledge but that it was all true, although I
Speaker 1: couldn't for the life of me see how a man
Speaker 1: who was unworthy of you could have possibly been your father.
Speaker 1: But it was you and not your father. I fell
Speaker 1: in love with the first night I saw you. I'm
Speaker 1: mighty glad for your sake that he wasn't that kind
Speaker 1: of man, because I know how you would feel about it.
Speaker 1: But as for what other people think about it, I
Speaker 1: should worry. And Jane, make up your mind right here
Speaker 1: and now that we're going to be married the day
Speaker 1: we both graduate. See, I won't wait a day longer
Speaker 1: to have the right to protect you. The tall trees
Speaker 1: whispered above their heads, and the birds looked down and
Speaker 1: dropped wonderful maladies about them, and Leslie stormily drove her
Speaker 1: car back and forth on the pike and sounded her
Speaker 1: clackes in loud and long. But it was almost an
Speaker 1: hour later that it suddenly occurred to Allison that Leslie
Speaker 1: was waiting for them, And still later before the two,
Speaker 1: with blissful lingering, finally wended their way out to the
Speaker 1: road and were taken up by the subdued and weary Leslie,
Speaker 1: who greeted them with relief and fell upon her new
Speaker 1: sister with eager enthusiasm and genuine delight. An hour later, Allison,
Speaker 1: after committing his future bride to the tender ministries of
Speaker 1: Julia Cloud, who had received her as a daughter, took
Speaker 1: his way collegeward. He sent up his card to miss
Speaker 1: Fraser and miss Bryce and requested that he might see
Speaker 1: them both as soon as possible, And in a flutter
Speaker 1: of expectancy, the two presently entered the reception room. They
Speaker 1: were hoping he had come to take them out in
Speaker 1: his car, although each was disappointed to find that she
Speaker 1: was not the only one summoned. Allison, in a few
Speaker 1: minutes of waiting for them, seemed to have lost his
Speaker 1: care free, boyish air and have grown to man's estate.
Speaker 1: He greeted the two young women with utmost courtesy and gravity,
Speaker 1: and proceeded at once to business. I have come to
Speaker 1: inform you, he said, with a bow that might almost
Speaker 1: be called stately, so much had the tall, slender figure
Speaker 1: lost its boyishness, that Miss Bristol is my fiancee, and
Speaker 1: as such it is my business to protect her. I
Speaker 1: must ask you both to publicly apologize before your sorority
Speaker 1: for what happened this morning. Eunice Bryce grew white and frightened,
Speaker 1: but Eugenia Fraser's face flamed angrily. Indeed, Alison Cloud, I'll
Speaker 1: do nothing of the kind. What in the world did
Speaker 1: you suppose I had to do with what happened this morning.
Speaker 1: You had all to do with it, Miss Fraser. I
Speaker 1: happened to know all about the matter. Well, you certainly
Speaker 1: don't flamed Eugenia, or you wouldn't be engaged to that
Speaker 1: little Bristol hypocrite. Her father was a common Allison took
Speaker 1: a step toward her, his face stern but controlled. Her
Speaker 1: father was not a forger, Miss Fraser. And I have
Speaker 1: reason to believe that you know that the report you
Speaker 1: are spreading about college is not true. But however that
Speaker 1: may be, Miss Fraser, if I should say that your
Speaker 1: father was a forger, would that change you any I
Speaker 1: have asked Miss Bristol to marry me because of what
Speaker 1: she is herself, and not because of what her father was.
Speaker 1: But there is ample evidence that her father was a
Speaker 1: noble and an upright man, and so recognized by the
Speaker 1: law and by his fellow townsman. And I demand that
Speaker 1: you take back your words publicly, both of you, and
Speaker 1: that you, Miss Fraser, take upon yourself publicly the responsibility
Speaker 1: for starting this whole trouble. I fancy it may be
Speaker 1: rather unpleasant for you to remain in this college longer
Speaker 1: unless this matter is adjusted satisfactorily. Well, I certainly do
Speaker 1: not intend to be bullied into any such thing, said
Speaker 1: Eugenia angrily. I'll leave college first, eunus Bryce began to cry.
Speaker 1: She was the protege of a rich woman and could
Speaker 1: not afford to be disgraced. I shall tell them all
Speaker 1: that you asked me to make that motion for you,
Speaker 1: and promise to give me your pink evening dress if
Speaker 1: I did, reproached Eunice, tearfully. Tell what you like, returned
Speaker 1: Eugenia grandly. It will only prove you what you are
Speaker 1: a little fool. I'm going up to pack. You needn't
Speaker 1: think you can hush me up, Allie in Cloud. If
Speaker 1: you are rich, money won't cover up the truth. No,
Speaker 1: said Allison, looking at her steadily, controledly with the memory
Speaker 1: of his promise to Jane. No, but Christianity will sometimes. Oh, yes,
Speaker 1: everybody knows you're a fanatic, sneered Eugenia, and swept herself
Speaker 1: out of the room with high head, knowing that the
Speaker 1: wisest thing she could do was to depart while the
Speaker 1: going was good. When Alison reached home a few minutes later,
Speaker 1: Julia Cloud put into his hand a letter which his
Speaker 1: guardian had written her soon after his first visit, in
Speaker 1: which he stated that he had made it a point
Speaker 1: to look up both the young people with whom his
Speaker 1: words were intimate, and he found their records and their
Speaker 1: family irreproachable. He especially went into details concerning Jane's father
Speaker 1: and the noble way in which he had acted, and
Speaker 1: the completeness with which his name had been cleared. He
Speaker 1: uncovered one or two facts which Jane apparently did not know,
Speaker 1: and which proved that time had revealed the true criminal
Speaker 1: to those most concerned, and that only pity for his
Speaker 1: family and the expressed wish of the man who had
Speaker 1: borne for a time his shame, had caused the matter
Speaker 1: to be hushed up. Allison, after he had read it,
Speaker 1: went to find Jane and drew her into the Little
Speaker 1: Sun Parlor to read it with him, and together they
Speaker 1: rejoiced quietly. Jane lifted a shining face to Allison after
Speaker 1: the reading. Then, I am glad we never said anything
Speaker 1: to Eugenia. Poor Eugenia, she is greatly to be pitied. Allison,
Speaker 1: a little shamefacedly agreed, and then owned up that he
Speaker 1: had fired Eugenia, as he expressed it from the college, Oh, Allison,
Speaker 1: said Jane, half troubled, though laughing in spite of herself
Speaker 1: at the vision of Eugenia trying to be lofty in
Speaker 1: the face of the facts. You ought not to have
Speaker 1: done it, Dear, I've stood it for so long. It
Speaker 1: didn't matter. Only for your sake and Leslie's for our sakes. Nothing,
Speaker 1: said Allison. That girl needed somebody to tell her where
Speaker 1: to get off, and only a man could do it.
Speaker 1: She'll be more polite to people hereafter. I'm thinking it
Speaker 1: won't do her any harm now, Jane Darling, forget it
Speaker 1: and let's be happy. Be careful, Allison, some one is coming.
Speaker 1: I think it's that mister Terence dog Gone has fool Hide,
Speaker 1: muttered Allison. I wish he'd take himself home, certainly would
Speaker 1: like to tell him where to get off. Leslie's as
Speaker 1: sick of him as I am, and as and as
Speaker 1: for Cloudy, she's about reach the limit. Why Allison, isn't
Speaker 1: Leslie interested in him? He told Howard that they were
Speaker 1: as good as engaged. Leslie interested in that little cad
Speaker 1: I should say not. If she was, I'd disown her,
Speaker 1: you say, he told Howard they were engaged. What a lie.
Speaker 1: So that's what's the matter with the old boy, is it?
Speaker 1: I thought something must be the matter that he got
Speaker 1: so busy all of a sudden. Well, I'll soon fix that.
Speaker 1: Come on up to Cloudy's porch quick, while he's in
Speaker 1: his room. Claddy won't mind. We'll be by ourselves there
Speaker 1: till dinner is ready. End of Chapter twenty nine. Recording
Speaker 1: by Tera Mendoza, Phoenix, Arizona, April two thousand eleven.