She dared not invite
him to the house she had rented, for Jim would be there. She could
not go to Strathdene's rooms at the Hilltop Inn. She thought of the
apartment she had stowed her mother in, and asked him there. Then
she telephoned her mother to suppress dad and keep out of sight.
She was afraid to have Jim take her to her mother's address lest her
woeful luck should bring Strathdene and Jim together at the door.
That was her excellent reason for rebuffing her husband's courtesy
and setting out alone.
Her mother was only too willing to abet Kedzie's forlorn hope. It
was the forlornness of Kedzie that saved her. When Strathdene saw
her in her exquisite despair he was helpless. He was no Hun to break
the heart of so sweet a being, and he believed her when she told him
that she would die if he tried to cross the perilous ocean without
her. She told him that she would throw herself on Jim's mercy the
next day and implore her freedom. He would not refuse her, she
assured him, for Jim was really awfully generous, whatever faults
he might have.
Strathdene could well believe that she would have her way with her
husband since he found her absolutely irresistible himself. The
conference lasted long, and they parted at last as Romeo and Juliet
would have parted if Juliet had been married to the County Paris
before Romeo met her.
Kedzie even promised Strathdene that she would not wait till the
morning, but would at once demand her husband's consent to the
divorce.
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