Detective and mystery stories; Love stories; Social secretaries -- Fiction; Young women -- Fiction
She did, however, and had Mr. Janney known it wakeful nights would again
have been his portion. But she had no intention of telling him. She had
seen that he was worn out, a mere bundle of nerves, and what she
intended to do would be done without his knowledge or connivance. This
was to start a private inquiry of her own. The written combination,
loose in an unlocked drawer, had influenced her; it was possible some
one in the house had found it. She felt that she owed it to her
dependents and herself to make sure. And the best way to do this was to
have a detective on the spot—but a detective whose profession would be
unknown. Fortunately the plan was workable; there was a vacancy in the
household staff. For the past month she had been advocating the
engagement of a nursery governess for Bébita.
Two days after her slip to Mr. Janney an opportunity came for broaching
the subject. They were at lunch when Suzanne announced that she intended
going to town the next morning. It was about Bébita—the child’s eyes,
which had troubled her in the spring, were again inflamed and she had
complained of pain in them. Suzanne wanted to consult the oculist; she
hoped a prescription would be sufficient, but of course if he insisted
on seeing the child she would have to be taken in for an examination.
Mrs. Janney thought it the right thing to do and said she would
accompany her daughter. Suzanne, who was eating her lunch, paused with
suspended fork and sidelong eye;—why was that necessary, she was
perfectly competent to attend to the matter. Mrs. Janney agreed and said
she was going on another errand—to see about the nursery governess they
had spoken of so often. It was time something was done, Bébita was
running wild, forgetting all she had learned last winter. Mrs. Janney
had heard of several women who might answer and would spend the day
looking them up and interviewing them. Suzanne returned to her food.
"Oh, very well, it might be a good thing, only please get some one young
and cheerful who didn’t put on airs and want to be a member of the
family."
One of Suzanne’s fads was a fear of the Pennsylvania Tunnel. Whether it
was a pose or genuine she absolutely refused to go through it, declaring
that on her one trip she had nearly died of fright and the pressure on
her ears. Since that alarming experience she always went to the city
either by the old Long Island Ferry route, or by motor across the
Queensborough Bridge.
It being a fine morning they decided to drive in—about an hour’s run—and
at ten they started forth. They chatted amicably, for Suzanne, since the
robbery and the knowledge that her debts were paid, had been unusually
gay and good-humored. They separated at Altman’s, Mrs. Janney keeping
the motor, Suzanne taking a taxi. At four they would meet at a tea room
and drive home together.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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