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THE FINANCIER
was the use? Only she was not going. She knew that – and so she
stood there white and tense.
«Now get all the clothes ye want», went on Butler, by no means
grasping her true mood. «Fix yourself up in any way you plase. Say
where ye want to go, but get ready».
«But I won’t, father», fi nally replied Aileen, equally solemnly,
equally determinedly. «I won’t go! I won’t leave Philadelphia».
«Ye don’t mane to say ye will deliberately disobey me when I’m
asking ye to do somethin’ that’s intended for yer own good, will ye
daughter?»
«Yes, I will», replied Aileen, determinedly. «I won’t go! I’m sorry,
but I won’t!»
«Ye really mane that, do ye?» asked Butler, sadly but grimly.
«Yes, I do», replied Aileen, grimly, in return.
«Then I’ll have to see what I can do, daughter», replied the old
man. «Ye’re still my daughter, whatever ye are, and I’ll not see ye
come to wreck and ruin for want of doin’ what I know to be my
solemn duty. I’ll give ye a few more days to think this over, but go ye
must. There’s an end of that. There are laws in this land still. There
are things that can be done to those who won’t obey the law. I found
ye this time – much as it hurt me to do it. I’ll fi nd ye again if ye try to
disobey me. Ye must change yer ways. I can’t have ye goin’ on as ye
are. Ye understand now. It’s the last word. Give this man up, and
ye can have anything ye choose. Ye’re my girl – I’ll do everything
I can in this world to make ye happy. Why, why shouldn’t I? What
else have I to live for but me children? It’s ye and the rest of them
that I’ve been workin’ and plannin’ for all these years. Come now, be
a good girl. Ye love your old father, don’t ye? Why, I rocked ye in my
arms as a baby, Aileen. I’ve watched over ye when ye were not bigger
than what would rest in me two fi sts here. I’ve been a good father to
ye – ye can’t deny that. Look at the other girls you’ve seen. Have
any of them had more nor what ye have had? Ye won’t go against
me in this. I’m sure ye won’t. Ye can’t. Ye love me too much – surely
ye do – don’t ye?» His voice weakened. His eyes almost fi lled.
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He paused and put a big, brown, horny hand on Aileen’s arm.
She had listened to his plea not unmoved – really more or less softened – because of the hopelessness of it. She could not give up Cowperwood. Her father just did not understand. He did not know what
love was. Unquestionably he had never loved as she had.
She stood quite silent while Butler appealed to her.
«I’d like to, father», she said at last and softly, tenderly. «Really
I would. I do love you. Yes, I do. I want to please you; but I can’t in
this – I can’t! I love Frank Cowperwood. You don’t understand – really you don’t!»
At the repetition of Cowperwood’s name Butler’s mouth hardened. He could see that she was infatuated – that his carefully calculated plea had failed. So he must think of some other way.
«Very well, then», he said at last and sadly, oh, so sadly, as Aileen
turned away. «Have it yer own way, if ye will. Ye must go, though,
willy-nilly. It can’t be any other way. I wish to God it could».
Aileen went out, very solemn, and Butler went over to his desk
and sat down. «Such a situation!» he said to himself. «Such a complication!»
CHAPTER XXXVIII
The situation which confronted Aileen was really a trying one.
A girl of less innate courage and determination would have weakened and yielded. For in spite of her various social connections and
acquaintances, the people to whom Aileen could run in an emergency of the present kind were not numerous. She could scarcely
think of any one who would be likely to take her in for any lengthy
period, without question. There were a number of young women of
her own age, married and unmarried, who were very friendly to her,
but there were few with whom she was really intimate. The only person who stood out in her mind, as having any real possibility of refuge for a period, was a certain Mary Calligan, better known as «Mamie» among her friends, who had attended school with Aileen in
former years and was now a teacher in one of the local schools.
The Calligan family consisted of Mrs. Katharine Calligan,
the mother, a dressmaker by profession and a widow – her husband, a house-mover by trade, having been killed by a falling wall
some ten years before – and Mamie, her twenty-three-year-old
daughter. They lived in a small two-story brick house in Cherry
Street, near Fifteenth. Mrs. Calligan was not a very good dressmaker, not good enough, at least, for the Butler family to patronize in
their present exalted state. Aileen went there occasionally for gingham house-dresses, underwear, pretty dressing-gowns, and alterations on some of her more important clothing which was made by
a very superior modiste in Chestnut Street. She visited the house
largely because she had gone to school with Mamie at St. Agatha’s,
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when the outlook of the Calligan family was much more promising.
Mamie was earning forty dollars a month as the teacher of a sixthgrade room in one of the nearby public schools, and Mrs. Calligan
averaged on the whole about two dollars a day – sometimes not so
much. The house they occupied was their own, free and clear, and
the furniture which it contained suggested the size of their joint
income, which was somewhere near eighty dollars a month.
Mamie Calligan was not good-looking, not nearly as good-looking as her mother had been before her. Mrs. Calligan was still plump,
bright, and cheerful at fi fty, with a fund of good humor. Mamie was
somewhat duller mentally and emotionally. She was serious-minded – made so, perhaps, as much by circumstances as by anything
else, for she was not at all vivid, and had little sex magnetism. Yet she
was kindly, honest, earnest, a good Catholic, and possessed of that
strangely excessive ingrowing virtue which shuts so many people off
from the world – a sense of duty. To Mamie Calligan duty (a routine conformity to such theories and precepts as she had heard and
worked by since her childhood) was the all-important thing, her
principal source of comfort and relief; her props in a queer and uncertain world being her duty to her Church; her duty to her school;
her duty to her mother; her duty to her friends, etc. Her mother
often wished for Mamie’s sake that she was less dutiful and more
charming physically, so that the men would like her.
In spite of the fact that her mother was a dressmaker, Mamie’s
clothes never looked smart or attractive – she would have felt out of
keeping with herself if they had. Her shoes were rather large, and
ill-fi tting; her skirt hung in lifeless lines from her hips to her feet, of
good material but seemingly bad design. At that time the colored
«jersey», so-called, was just coming into popular wear, and, being
close-fi tting, looked well on those of good form. Alas for Mamie Calligan! The mode of the time compelled her to wear one; but she had
neither the arms nor the chest development which made this garment admirable. Her hat, by choice, was usually a pancake affair with
a long, single feather, which somehow never seemed to be in exactly
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the right position, either to her hair or her face. At most times she
looked a little weary; but she was not physically weary so much as
she was bored. Her life held so little of real charm; and Aileen Butler
was unquestionably the most signifi cant element of romance in it.
Mamie’s mother’s very pleasant social disposition, the fact that
they had a very cleanly, if poor little home, that she could entertain them by playing on their piano, and that Mrs. Calligan took
an adoring interest in the work she did for her, made up the sum
and substance of the attraction of the Calligan home for Aileen.
She went there occasionally as a relief from other things, and because Mamie Calligan had a compatible and very understanding
interest in literature. Curiously, the books Aileen liked she liked –
Jane Eyre, Kenelm Chillingly, Tricotrin, and A Bow of Orange Ribbon. Mamie occasionally recommended to Aileen some latest effusion of this character; and Aileen, fi nding her judgment good, was
constrained to admire her.
In this crisis it was to the home of the Calligans that Aileen
turned in thought. If her father really was not nice to her, and she
had to leave home for a time, she could go to the Calligans. They
would receive her and say nothing. They were not suffi ciently well
known to the other members of the Butler family to have the latter suspect that she had gone there. She might readily disappear
into the privacy of Cherry Street and not be seen or heard of for
weeks. It is an interesting fact to contemplate that the Calligans,
like the various members of the Butler family, never suspected Aileen of the least tendency toward a wayward existence. Hence her
fl ight from her own family, if it ever came, would be laid more to
the door of a temperamental pettishness than anything else.
On the other hand, in so far as the Butler family as a unit was
concerned, it needed Aileen more than she needed it. It needed
the light of her countenance to keep it appropriately cheerful, and
if she went away there would be a distinct gulf that would not
soon be overcome.
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Butler, senior, for instance, had seen his little daughter grow
into radiantly beautiful womanhood. He had seen her go to school
and convent and learn to play the piano – to him a great accomplishment. Also he had seen her manner change and become very
showy and her knowledge of life broaden, apparently, and become to him, at least, impressive. Her smart, dogmatic views about
most things were, to him, at least, well worth listening to. She knew
more about books and art than Owen or Callum, and her sense of
social manners was perfect. When she came to the table – breakfast,
luncheon, or dinner – she was to him always a charming object to
see. He had produced Aileen – he congratulated himself. He had
furnished her the money to be so fi ne. He would continue to do
so. No second-rate upstart of a man should be allowed to ruin her
life. He proposed to take care of her always – to leave her so much
money in a legally involved way that a failure of a husband could
not possibly affect her. «You’re the charming lady this evenin’, I’m
thinkin’», was one of his pet remarks; and also, «My, but we’re that
fi ne!» At table almost invariably she sat beside him and looked out
for him. That was what he wanted. He had put her there beside
him at his meals years before when she was a child.
Her mother, too, was inordinately fond of her, and Callum and
Owen appropriately brotherly. So Aileen had thus far at least paid
back with beauty and interest quite as much as she received, and
all the family felt it to be so. When she was away for a day or two
the house seemed glum – the meals less appetizing. When she returned, all were happy and gay again.
Aileen understood this clearly enough in a way. Now, when
it came to thinking of leaving and shifting for herself, in order to
avoid a trip which she did not care to be forced into, her courage
was based largely on this keen sense of her own signifi cance to
the family. She thought over what her father had said, and decided
she must act at once. She dressed for the street the next morning,
after her father had gone, and decided to step in at the Calligans’
about noon, when Mamie would be at home for luncheon. Then
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she would take up the matter casually. If they had no objection, she
would go there. She sometimes wondered why Cowperwood did not
suggest, in his great stress, that they leave for some parts unknown;
but she also felt that he must know best what he could do. His increasing troubles depressed her.
Mrs. Calligan was alone when she arrived and was delighted to
see her. After exchanging the gossip of the day, and not knowing
quite how to proceed in connection with the errand which had
brought her, she went to the piano and played a melancholy air.
«Sure, it’s lovely the way you play, Aileen», observed Mrs. Calligan who was unduly sentimental herself. «I love to hear you. I wish
you’d come oftener to see us. You’re so rarely here nowadays».
«Oh, I’ve been so busy, Mrs. Calligan», replied Aileen. «I’ve had
so much to do this fall, I just couldn’t. They wanted me to go to Europe; but I didn’t care to. Oh, dear!» she sighed, and in her playing
swept off with a movement of sad, romantic signifi cance. The door
opened and Mamie came in. Her commonplace face brightened at
the sight of Aileen.
«Well, Aileen Butler!» she exclaimed. «Where did you come
from? Where have you been keeping yourself so long?»
Aileen rose to exchange kisses. «Oh, I’ve been very busy, Mamie.
I’ve just been telling your mother. How are you, anyway? How are
you getting along in your work?»
Mamie recounted at once some school diffi culties which were
puzzling her – the growing size of classes and the amount of work
expected. While Mrs. Calligan was setting the table Mamie went to
her room and Aileen followed her.
As she stood before her mirror arranging her hair Aileen
looked at her meditatively.
«What’s the matter with you, Aileen, to-day?» Mamie asked.
«You look so –» She stopped to give her a second glance.
«How do I look?» asked Aileen.
«Well, as if you were uncertain or troubled about something.
I never saw you look that way before. What’s the matter?»
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«Oh, nothing», replied Aileen. «I was just thinking». She went to
one of the windows which looked into the little yard, meditating on whether she could endure living here for any length of time.
The house was so small, the furnishings so very simple.
«There is something the matter with you to-day, Aileen», observed Mamie, coming over to her and looking in her face. «You’re
not like yourself at all».
«I’ve got something on my mind», replied Aileen – «something
that’s worrying me. I don’t know just what to do – that’s what’s
the matter».
«Well, whatever can it be?» commented Mamie. «I never saw
you act this way before. Can’t you tell me? What is it?»
«No, I don’t think I can – not now, anyhow». Aileen paused.
«Do you suppose your mother would object», she asked, suddenly,
«if I came here and stayed a little while? I want to get away from
home for a time for a certain reason».
«Why, Aileen Butler, how you talk!» exclaimed her friend. «Object! You know she’d be delighted, and so would I. Oh, dear – can
you come? But what makes you want to leave home?»
«That’s just what I can’t tell you – not now, anyhow. Not you, so
much, but your mother. You know, I’m afraid of what she’d think»,
replied Aileen. «But, you mustn’t ask me yet, anyhow. I want to think.
Oh, dear! But I want to come, if you’ll let me. Will you speak to your
mother, or shall I?»
«Why, I will», said Mamie, struck with wonder at this remarkable development; «but it’s silly to do it. I know what she’ll say
before I tell her, and so do you. You can just bring your things
and come. That’s all. She’d never say anything or ask anything,
either, and you know that – if you didn’t want her to». Mamie was
all agog and aglow at the idea. She wanted the companionship of
Aileen so much.
Aileen looked at her solemnly, and understood well enough
why she was so enthusiastic – both she and her mother. Both wanted her presence to brighten their world. «But neither of you must
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tell anybody that I’m here, do you hear? I don’t want any one to
know – particularly no one of my family. I’ve a reason, and a good
one, but I can’t tell you what it is – not now, anyhow. You’ll promise
not to tell any one».
«Oh, of course», replied Mamie eagerly. «But you’re not going to run away for good, are you, Aileen?» she concluded curiously and gravely.
«Oh, I don’t know; I don’t know what I’ll do yet. I only know that
I want to get away for a while, just now – that’s all». She paused,
while Mamie stood before her, agape.
«Well, of all things», replied her friend. «Wonders never cease,
do they, Aileen? But it will be so lovely to have you here. Mama will
be so pleased. Of course, we won’t tell anybody if you don’t want us
to. Hardly any one ever comes here; and if they do, you needn’t see
them. You could have this big room next to me. Oh, wouldn’t that
be nice? I’m perfectly delighted». The young school-teacher’s spirits
rose to a decided height. «Come on, why not tell mama right now?»
Aileen hesitated because even now she was not positive whether
she should do this, but fi nally they went down the stairs together,
Aileen lingering behind a little as they neared the bottom. Mamie
burst in upon her mother with: «Oh, mama, isn’t it lovely? Aileen’s
coming to stay with us for a while. She doesn’t want any one to
know, and she’s coming right away». Mrs. Calligan, who was holding
a sugarbowl in her hand, turned to survey her with a surprised but
smiling face. She was immediately curious as to why Aileen should
want to come – why leave home. On the other hand, her feeling for
Aileen was so deep that she was greatly and joyously intrigued by
the idea. And why not? Was not the celebrated Edward Butler’s
daughter a woman grown, capable of regulating her own affairs, and
welcome, of course, as the honored member of so important a family. It was very fl attering to the Calligans to think that she would
want to come under any circumstances.
«I don’t see how your parents can let you go, Aileen; but you’re
certainly welcome here as long as you want to stay, and that’s forev-
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er, if you want to». And Mrs. Calligan beamed on her welcomingly.
The idea of Aileen Butler asking to be permitted to come here! And
the hearty, comprehending manner in which she said this, and Mamie’s enthusiasm, caused Aileen to breathe a sigh of relief. The matter of the expense of her presence to the Calligans came into her
mind.
«I want to pay you, of course», she said to Mrs. Calligan,
«if I come».
«The very idea, Aileen Butler!» exclaimed Mamie. «You’ll do
nothing of the sort. You’ll come here and live with me as my guest».
«No, I won’t! If I can’t pay I won’t come», replied Aileen. «You’ll
have to let me do that». She knew that the Calligans could not afford to keep her.
«Well, we’ll not talk about that now, anyhow», replied Mrs.
Calligan. «You can come when you like and stay as long as you
like. Reach me some clean napkins, Mamie». Aileen remained for
luncheon, and left soon afterward to keep her suggested appointment with Cowperwood, feeling satisfi ed that her main problem
had been solved. Now her way was clear. She could come here if
she wanted to. It was simply a matter of collecting a few necessary
things or coming without bringing anything. Perhaps Frank would
have something to suggest.
In the meantime Cowperwood made no effort to communicate with Aileen since the unfortunate discovery of their meeting
place, but had awaited a letter from her, which was not long in
coming. And, as usual, it was a long, optimistic, affectionate, and
defi ant screed in which she related all that had occurred to her
and her present plan of leaving home. This last puzzled and troubled him not a little.
Aileen in the bosom of her family, smart and well-cared for, was
one thing. Aileen out in the world dependent on him was another.
He had never imagined that she would be compelled to leave before
he was prepared to take her; and if she did now, it might stir up complications which would be anything but pleasant to contemplate.
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