Jennie Gerhardt: A Novel

  CHAPTER XLIII

  This attempt at coercion was the one thing which would definitelyset Lester in opposition to his family, at least for the time being.He had realized clearly enough of late that he had made a big mistake;first in not having married Jennie, thus avoiding scandal; and in thesecond place in not having accepted her proposition at the time whenshe wanted to leave him; There were no two ways about it, he had madea mess of this business. He could not afford to lose his fortuneentirely. He did not have enough money of his own. Jennie was unhappy,he could see that. Why shouldn't she be? He was unhappy. Did he wantto accept the shabby ten thousand a year, even if he were willing tomarry her? Finally, did he want to lose Jennie, to have her go out ofhis life once and for all? He could not make up his mind; the problemwas too complicated.

  When Lester returned to his home, after the funeral, Jennie saw atonce that something was amiss with him, something beyond a son'snatural grief for his father's death was weighing upon his spirits.What was it, she wondered. She tried to draw near to himsympathetically, but his wounded spirit could not be healed so easily.When hurt in his pride he was savage and sullen--he could havestruck any man who irritated him. She watched him interestedly,wishing to do something for him, but he would not give her hisconfidence. He grieved, and she could only grieve with him.

  Days passed, and now the financial situation which had been createdby his father's death came up for careful consideration. The factorymanagement had to be reorganized. Robert would have to be madepresident, as his father wished. Lester's own relationship to thebusiness would have to come up for adjudication. Unless he changed hismind about Jennie, he was not a stockholder. As a matter of fact, hewas not anything. To continue to be secretary and treasurer, it wasnecessary that he should own at least one share of the company'sstock. Would Robert give him any? Would Amy, Louise, or Imogene? Wouldthey sell him any? Would the other members of the family care to doanything which would infringe on Robert's prerogatives under the will?They were all rather unfriendly to Lester at present, and he realizedthat he was facing a ticklish situation. The solution was--to getrid of Jennie. If he did that he would not need to be begging forstock. If he didn't, he was flying in the face of his father's lastwill and testament. He turned the matter over in his mind slowly anddeliberately. He could quite see how things were coming out. He mustabandon either Jennie or his prospects in life. What a dilemma!

  Despite Robert's assertion, that so far as he was concerned anotherarrangement would have been satisfactory, he was really very wellpleased with the situation; his dreams were slowly nearing completion.Robert had long had his plans perfected, not only for a thoroughreorganization of the company proper, but for an extension of thebusiness in the direction of a combination of carriage companies. Ifhe could get two or three of the larger organizations in the East andWest to join with him, selling costs could be reduced, over-productionwould be avoided, and the general expenses could be materially scaleddown. Through a New York representative, he had been picking up stockin outside carriage companies for some time and he was almost ready toact. In the first place he would have himself elected president of theKane Company, and since Lester was no longer a factor, he could selectAmy's husband as vice-president, and possibly some one other thanLester as secretary and treasurer. Under the conditions of the will,the stock and other properties set aside temporarily for Lester, inthe hope that he would come to his senses, were to be managed andvoted by Robert. His father had meant, obviously, that he, Robert,should help him coerce his brother. He did not want to appear mean,but this was such an easy way. It gave him a righteous duty toperform. Lester must come to his senses or he must let Robert run thebusiness to suit himself.

  Lester, attending to his branch duties in Chicago, foresaw thedrift of things. He realized now that he was permanently out of thecompany, a branch manager at his brother's sufferance, and the thoughtirritated him greatly. Nothing had been said by Robert to indicatethat such a change had taken place--things went on very much asbefore--but Robert's suggestions were now obviously law. Lesterwas really his brother's employee at so much a year. It sickened hissoul.

  There came a time, after a few weeks, when he felt as if he couldnot stand this any longer. Hitherto he had been a free and independentagent. The approaching annual stockholder's meeting which hitherto hadbeen a one-man affair and a formality, his father doing all thevoting, would be now a combination of voters, his brother presiding,his sisters very likely represented by their husbands, and he notthere at all. It was going to be a great come-down, but as Robert hadnot said anything about offering to give or sell him any stock whichwould entitle him to sit as a director or hold any official positionin the company, he decided to write and resign. That would bringmatters to a crisis. It would show his brother that he felt no desireto be under obligations to him in any way or to retain anything whichwas not his--and gladly so--by right of ability and thedesire of those with whom he was associated. If he wanted to move backinto the company by deserting Jennie he would come in a very differentcapacity from that of branch manager. He dictated a simple,straight-forward business letter, saying:

  "DEAR ROBERT, I know the time is drawing near when the companymust be reorganized under your direction. Not having any stock, I amnot entitled to sit as a director, or to hold the joint position ofsecretary and treasurer. I want you to accept this letter as formalnotice of my resignation from both positions, and I want to have yourdirectors consider what disposition should be made of this positionand my services. I am not anxious to retain the branch-managership asa branch-managership merely; at the same time I do not want to doanything which will embarrass you in your plans for the future. Yousee by this that I am not ready to accept the proposition laid down infather's will--at least, not at present. I would like a definiteunderstanding of how you feel in this matter. Will you write and letme know?

  "Yours,

  "LESTER."

  Robert, sitting in his office at Cincinnati, considered this lettergravely. It was like his brother to come down to "brass tacks." IfLester were only as cautious as he was straightforward and direct,what a man he would be! But there was no guile in the man--nosubtlety. He would never do a snaky thing--and Robert knew, inhis own soul, that to succeed greatly one must. "You have to beruthless at times--you have to be subtle," Robert would say tohimself. "Why not face the facts to yourself when you are playing forbig stakes?" He would, for one, and he did.

  Robert felt that although Lester was a tremendously decent fellowand his brother, he wasn't pliable enough to suit his needs. He wastoo outspoken, too inclined to take issue. If Lester yielded to hisfather's wishes, and took possession of his share of the estate, hewould become, necessarily, an active partner in the affairs of thecompany. Lester would be a barrier in Robert's path. Did Robert wantthis? Decidedly he did not. He much preferred that Lester should holdfast to Jennie, for the present at least, and so be quietly shelved byhis own act.

  After long consideration, Robert dictated a politic letter. Hehadn't made up his mind yet just what he wanted to do. He did not knowwhat his sisters' husbands would like. A consultation would have to beheld. For his part, he would be very glad to have Lester remain assecretary and treasurer, if it could be arranged. Perhaps it would bebetter to let the matter rest for the present.

  Lester cursed. What did Robert mean by beating around the bush? Heknew well enough how it could be arranged. One share of stock would beenough for Lester to qualify. Robert was afraid of him--that wasthe basic fact. Well, he would not retain any branch-managership,depend on that. He would resign at once. Lester accordingly wroteback, saying that he had considered all sides, and had decided to lookafter some interests of his own, for the time being. If Robert couldarrange it, he would like to have some one come on to Chicago and takeover the branch agency. Thirty days would be time enough. In a fewdays came a regretful reply, saying that Robert was awfully sorry, butthat if Lester was determined he did not want to interfere with anyplans he might have in view. I
mogene's husband, Jefferson Midgely, hadlong thought he would like to reside in Chicago. He could undertakethe work for the time being.

  Lester smiled. Evidently Robert was making the best of a verysubtle situation. Robert knew that he, Lester, could sue and tiethings up, and also that he would be very loath to do so. Thenewspapers would get hold of the whole story. This matter of hisrelationship to Jennie was in the air, anyhow. He could best solve theproblem by leaving her. So it all came back to that.