The Grafters by Francis Lynde
page 30 of 360 (08%)
page 30 of 360 (08%)
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"Oh, we shouldn't think of troubling you. James can do all those things.
And failing James, there is a very dependable young woman at the head of this household. Haven't I 'personally conducted' the family all over Europe?" "James is a base hireling," said the caller, blandly. "And as for the capable young woman: do I or do I not recollect a dark night on the German frontier when she was glad enough to call on a sleepy fellow pilgrim to help her wrestle with a particularly thick-headed customs officer?" "If you do, it is not especially kind of you to remind her of it." He looked up quickly, and the masterful soul of the man, for which the clean-cut, square-set jaw and the athletic figure were the outward presentments, put on a mask of deference and humility. "You are hard with me, Elinor--always flinty and adamantine, and that sort. Have you no soft side at all?" She laughed. "The sentimental young woman went out some time ago, didn't she? One can't be an anachronism." "I suppose not. Yet I'm always trying to make myself believe other things about you. Don't you like to be cared for like other women?" "I don't know; sometimes I think I should. But I have had to be the man of the house since father died." |
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