CHAPTER XXXVII
ON THE CARPET
The question at issue was not whether Beatrice would break with herfiance, but in what way it should be done. If her father found himguilty of what Durand had said, he was to dismiss him brusquely; ifnot, Beatrice wanted to disengage herself gently and with contrition.
Whitford summoned Bromfield to his office where the personal equationwould be less pronounced. He put to him plainly the charge made byJerry and demanded an answer.
The younger man was between the devil and the deep sea. He would havelied cheerfully if that would have availed. But a denial of the truthof Durand's allegations would be a challenge for him to prove hisstory. He would take it to the papers and spread it broadcast. Fromthat hour Clarendon Bromfield would be an outcast in the city. Societywould repudiate him. His clubs would cast him out. All the prestigethat he had built up by a lifetime of effort would be swept away.
No lie could save him. The only thing he could do was to sugarcoat thetruth. He set about making out a case for himself as skillfully as hecould.
"I'm a man of the world, Mr. Whitford," he explained. "When I meet anugly fact I look it in the face. This man Lindsay was making a greatimpression on you and Bee. Neither of you seemed able quite to realizehis--his deficiencies, let us say. I felt myself at a disadvantagewith him because he's such a remarkably virile young man and heconstantly reminded you both of the West you love. It seemed fair toall of us to try him out--to find out whether at bottom he was a decentfellow or not. So I laid a little trap to find out."
Bromfield was sailing easily into his version of the affair. It wasthe suavest interpretation of his conduct that he had been able toprepare, one that put him in the role of a fair-minded man looking tothe best interests of all.
"Not the way Durand tells it," answered the miner bluntly. "He saysyou paid him a thousand dollars to arrange a trap to catch Lindsay."
"Either he misunderstood me or he's distorting the facts," claimed theclubman with an assumption of boldness.
"That ought to be easy to prove. We'll make an appointment with himfor this afternoon and check up by the dictagraph."
Bromfield laughed uneasily. "Is that necessary, Mr. Whitford? Surelymy word is good. I have the honor to tell you that I did nothingdiscreditable."
"It would have been good with me a week ago," replied the Coloradoangravely. "But since then--well, you know what's happened since then.I don't want to hurt your feelings, Clarendon, but I may as well sayfrankly that I can't accept your account without checking up on it.That, however, isn't quite the point. Durand has served notice thatunless we call off the prosecution of him he's going to ruin you. Areyou satisfied to have us tell him he can go to the devil?"
"I wouldn't go that far." Bromfield felt for his words carefully."Maybe in cold type what I said might be misunderstood. I wouldn'tlike to push the fellow too far."
Whitford leaned back in his swivel chair and looked steadily at the manto whom his daughter was engaged. "I'm going to the bottom of this,Bromfield. That fellow Durand ought to go to the penitentiary. We'regathering the evidence to send him there. Now he tells me he'll dragyou down to ruin with him it he goes. Come clean. Can he do it?"
"Well, I wouldn't say--"
"Don't evade, Bromfield. Yes or no."
"I suppose he can." The words came sulkily after a long pause.
"You did hire him to destroy Lindsay's reputation."
"Lindsay had no business here in New York. He was disturbing Bee'speace of mind. I wanted to get rid of him and send him home."
"So you paid a crooked scoundrel who hated him to murder hisreputation."
"That's not what I call it," defended the clubman.
"It doesn't matter what you call it. The fact stands."
"I told him explicitly--again and again--that there was to be noviolence. I intended only to show him up. I had a right to do it."
Whitford got up and walked up and down the room. He felt like layinghands on this well-dressed scamp and throwing him out of the office.He tasted something of his daughter's sense of degradation at everhaving been connected with a man of so little character. Theexperience was a bitterly humiliating one to him. For Bee was, in hisopinion, the cleanest, truest little thoroughbred under heaven. Theonly questionable thing he had ever known her to do was to engageherself to this man.
Colin came to a halt in front of the other.
"We've got to protect you, no matter how little you deserve it. Ican't have Bee's name dragged into all the papers of the country. Thecase against Durand will have to be dropped. He's lost his poweranyhow and he'll never get it back."
"Then it doesn't matter much whether he's tried or not."
That phase of the subject Whitford did not pursue. He began to feel inhis vest pocket for something.
"Of course you understand that we're through with you, Bromfield.Neither Beatrice nor I care to have anything more to do with you."
"I don't see why," protested Bromfield. "As a man of the world--"
"If you don't see the reason I'm not able to explain it to you."Whitford's fingers found what they were looking for. He fished a ringfrom his pocket and put it on the desk. "Beatrice asked me to give youthis."
"I don't think that's fair. If she wants to throw me over she ought totell me her reasons herself."
"She's telling them through me. I don't want to be more explicitunless you force me."
"Of course I'm not good enough. I know that. No man's good enough fora good woman. But I'm as good as other fellows. We don't claim to beangels. New York doesn't sprout wings."
"I'm not going to argue this with you. And I'm not going to tell youwhat I think of you beyond saying that we're through with you. Theless said about it the better. Man, don't you see I don't want to haveany more talk about it? The engagement was a mistake in the firstplace. Bee never loved you. Even if you'd been what we thought you,it wouldn't have done. She's lucky to have found out in time."
"Is this a business rupture, too, Mr. Whitford?"
"Just as you say about that, Bromfield. As an investor in the BirdCage you're entitled to the same consideration that any otherstockholder is. Since you're the second largest owner you've a rightto recognition on the board of directors. I'm not mixing my privateaffairs with business."
"Good of you, Mr. Whitford." The younger man spoke with a hint ofgentle sarcasm. He flicked a speck of dirt from his coat-sleeve andreturned to the order of the day. "I understand then that you'll dropthe case against Durand on condition that he'll surrender anything hemay have against me and agree to keep quiet."
"Yes. I think I can speak for Lindsay. So far most of the evidence isin our hands. It is not yet enough to convict him. We can probablyarrange it with the district attorney to have the thing dropped. Youcan make your own terms with Durand. I'd rather not have anything todo with it myself."
Bromfield rose, pulled on the glove he had removed, nodded good-byewithout offering to shake hands, and sauntered out of the office.There was a look on his face the mining man did not like. It occurredto Whitford that Clarendon, now stripped of self-respect by theknowledge of the regard in which they held him, was in a position tostrike back hard if he cared to do so. The right to vote the proxiesof the small stockholders of the Bird Cage Company had been made out inhis name at the request of the president of the corporation.