"I"ll see the girl and talk to her. She must listen to reason."
"Reason!" exploded the banker angrily. "How can you expect reason from a woman who hounds us, dogs our footsteps, tries to compel us to--take her up?"
Judge Brewster, who had apparently paid no attention to the banker"s remarks, now turned around. Hesitatingly he said:
"I think you do her an injustice, Jeffries. She comes every day in the hope that your feelings toward your son have changed. She wishes to give color to the belief that his father"s lawyers are championing his cause. She was honest enough to tell me so. You know her movements are closely watched by the newspapers and she takes good care to let the reporters think that she comes here to discuss with me the details of her husband"s defense."
The banker shifted impatiently on his chair. Contemptuously he said:
"The newspapers which I read don"t give her the slightest attention. If they did I should refuse to read them." With growing irritation he went on:
"It"s no use talking about her any more. What are we going to do about this latest scandal? This woman is going on the stage to be exhibited all over the country and she proposes to use the family name."
"There is nothing to prevent her," said the lawyer dryly.
The banker jumped to his feet and exclaimed angrily:
"There must be! Good G.o.d, Brewster, surely you can obtain an injunction restraining her from using the family name! You must do something. What do you advise?"
"I advise patience," replied the judge calmly.
But Mr. Jeffries had no patience. He was a man who was not accustomed to have his wishes thwarted. He did not understand why there should be the slightest difficulty in carrying out his instructions.
"Any one can advise patience!" he exclaimed hotly, "but that"s not doing anything." Banging the desk angrily with his fist, he shouted: "I want something done!"
Judge Brewster looked up at his client with surprise. The judge never lost his temper. Even in the most acrimonious wrangles in the courtroom he was always the suave, polished gentleman. There was a shade of reproach in his tone as he replied:
"Come, come, don"t lose your temper! I"ll do what I can, but there is nothing to be done in the way you suggest. The most I can do is to remain loyal to you, although--to be quite candid--I confess it goes against the grain to keep my hands off this case. As I told your wife, there are certain features about it which interest me keenly. I feel that you are wrong to----"
"No, Brewster!" interrupted Mr. Jeffries explosively. "I"m right! I"m right! You know it, but you won"t admit it."
The lawyer shrugged his shoulders and turned to his desk again.
Laconically, he said:
"Well, I won"t argue the matter with you. You refuse to be advised by me and----"
The banker looked up impatiently.
"What is your advice?"
The lawyer, without looking up from his papers, said quietly:
"You know what my feelings in the matter are."
"And you know what mine are!" exclaimed the banker hotly. "I refuse to be engulfed in this wave of hysterical sympathy with criminals. I will not be stamped with the same hall mark as the man who takes the life of his fellow being--though the man be my own son. I will not set the seal of approval on crime by defending it."
The lawyer bowed and said calmly:
"Then, sir, you must expect exactly what is happening. This girl, whatever she may be, is devoted to your son. She is his wife. She"ll go to any extreme to help him--even to selling her name for money to pay for his defense."
The banker threw up his hands with impatience.
"It"s a matter of principle with me. Her devotion is not the question."
With a mocking laugh he went on: "Sentimentality doesn"t appeal to me.
The whole thing is distasteful and hideous to me. My instructions to you are to prevent her using the family name on the stage, to buy her off on her own terms, to get rid of her at any price."
"Except the price she asks," interposed the lawyer dryly. Shaking his head, he went on:
"You"ll find that a wife"s devotion is a very strong motive power, Jeffries. It will move irresistibly forward in spite of all the barriers you and I can erect to stay its progress. That may sound like a plat.i.tude, but it"s a fact nevertheless."
Alicia, who had been listening with varied emotions to the conversation, now interrupted timidly:
"Perhaps Judge Brewster is right, dear. After all, the girl is working to save your son. Public opinion may think it unnatural----"
The banker turned on his wife. Sternly he said:
"Alicia, I cannot permit you to interfere. That young man is a self-confessed murderer and therefore no son of mine. I"ve done with him long ago. I cannot be moved by maudlin sentimentality. Please let that be final." Turning to the lawyer, he said coldly:
"So, in the matter of this stage business, you can take no steps to restrain her?"
The lawyer shook his head.
"No, there is nothing I can do." Quickly he added: "Of course, you don"t doubt my loyalty to you?"
Mr. Jeffries shook his head.
"No, no, Brewster."
The lawyer laughed as he said:
"Right or wrong, you know--"my country"--that is, my client--""tis of thee."" Turning to Alicia, he added laughingly: "That"s the painful part of a lawyer"s profession, Mrs. Jeffries. The client"s weakness is the lawyer"s strength. When men hate each other and rob each other we lawyers don"t pacify them. We dare not, because that is our profession.
We encourage them. We pit them against each other for profit. If we didn"t they"d go to some lawyer who would."
Alicia gave a feeble smile.
"Yes," she replied; "I"m afraid we all love to be advised to do what we want to do."
Mr. Jeffries made an impatient gesture of dissent. Scoffingly he remarked:
"That may apply to the great generality of people, but not to me."
Judge Brewster looked skeptical, but made no further comment. The banker rose and Alicia followed suit. As he moved toward the door, he turned and said:
"Drop in and see me this evening, Brewster. Mrs. Jeffries will be delighted if you will dine with us."
Alicia smiled graciously. "Do come, judge; we shall be all alone."
The lawyer bent low over her hand as he said good-by. Mr. Jeffries had already reached the door, when he turned again and said: