Baby Mine
Page 9
CHAPTER IX
Realising that she was rapidly losing ground by exercising her advantageover Alfred in the matter of quick retort, Zoie, with her customarycunning, veered round to a more conciliatory tone. "Well," she cooed,"suppose I DID eat lunch with a man?"
"Ah!" shrieked Alfred, as though he had at last run his victim to earth.
She retreated with her fingers crossed. "I only said suppose," shereminded him quickly. Then she continued in a tone meant to draw fromhim his heart's most secret confidence. "Didn't you ever eat lunch withany woman but me?"
"Never!" answered Alfred firmly.
There was an unmistakable expression of pleasure on Zoie's small face,but she forced back the smile that was trying to creep round her lips,and sidled toward Alfred, with eyes properly downcast. "Then I'm verysorry I did it," she said solemnly, "and I'll never do it again."
"So!" cried Alfred with renewed indignation. "You admit it?"
"Just to please you, dear," explained Zoie sweetly, as though she weredoing him the greatest possible favour.
"To please me?" gasped Alfred. "Do you suppose it pleases me to knowthat you are carrying on the moment my back is turned, making a fool ofme to my friends?"
"Your friends?" cried Zoie with a sneer. This time it was her turn to beangry. "So! It's your FRIENDS that are worrying you!" In her excitementshe tossed Alfred's now damaged hat into the chair just behind her. Hewas far too overwrought to see it. "_I_ haven't done you any harm," shecontinued wildly. "It's only what you think your friends think."
"You haven't done me any harm?" repeated Alfred, in her same tragic key,"Oh no! Oh no! You've only cheated me out of everything I expected toget out of life! That's all!"
Zoie came to a full stop and waited for him to enumerate the varioustreasures that he had lost by marrying her. He did so.
"Before we were married," he continued, "you pretended to adorechildren. You started your humbugging the first day I met you. I referto little Willie Peck."
A hysterical giggle very nearly betrayed her. Alfred continued:
"I was fool enough to let you know that I admire women who likechildren. From that day until the hour that I led you to the altar,you'd fondle the ugliest little brats that we met in the street, but themoment you GOT me----"
"Alfred!" gasped Zoie. This was really going too far.
"Yes, I repeat it!" shouted Alfred, pounding the table with his fist foremphasis. "The moment you GOT me, you declared that all children werehorrid little insects, and that someone ought to sprinkle bug-powder onthem."
"Oh!" protested Zoie, shocked less by Alfred's interpretation of hersentiments, than by the vulgarity with which he expressed them.
"On another occasion," declared Alfred, now carried away by the recitalof his long pent up wrongs, "you told me that all babies should be putin cages, shipped West, and kept in pens until they got to be of aninteresting age. 'Interesting age!'" he repeated with a sneer, "meaningold enough to take YOU out to luncheon, I suppose."
"I never said any such thing," objected Zoie.
"Well, that was the idea," insisted Alfred. "I haven't your glib way ofexpressing myself."
"You manage to express yourself very well," retorted Zoie. "Whenyou have anything DISAGREEABLE to say. As for babies," she continuedtentatively, "I think they are all very well in their PLACE, but theywere NEVER meant for an APARTMENT."
"I offered you a house in the country," shouted Alfred.
"The country!" echoed Zoie. "How could I live in the country, withpeople being murdered in their beds every night? Read the papers."
"Always an excuse," sighed Alfred resignedly. "There always HAS beenand there always would be if I'd stay to listen. Well, for once," hedeclared, "I'm glad that we have no children. If we had, I might feelsome obligation to keep up this farce of a marriage. As it is," hecontinued, "YOU are free and _I_ am free." And with a courtly wave ofhis arm, he dismissed Zoie and the entire subject, and again he startedin pursuit of Mary and his hat.
"If it's your freedom you wish," pouted Zoie with an abused air, "youmight have said so in the first place."
Alfred stopped in sheer amazement at the cleverness with which thelittle minx turned his every statement against him.
"It's not very manly of you," she continued, "to abuse me just becauseyou've found someone whom you like better."
"That's not true," protested Alfred hotly, "and you know it's not true."Little did he suspect the trap into which she was leading him.
"Then you DON'T love anybody more than you do me?" she cried eagerly,and she gazed up at him with adoring eyes.
"I didn't say any such thing," hedged Alfred.
"Then you DO," she accused him.
"I DON'T," he declared in self defence.
With a cry of joy, she sprang into his arms, clasped her fingers tightlybehind his neck, and rained impulsive kisses upon his unsuspecting face.
For an instant, Alfred looked down at Zoie, undecided whether tostrangle her or to return her embraces. As usual, his self-respect wonthe day for him and, with a determined effort, he lifted her high in theair, so that she lost her tenacious hold of him, and sat her down witha thud in the very same chair in which she had lately dropped his hat.Having acted with this admirable resolution, he strode majesticallytoward the inner hall, but before he could reach it, Zoie was againon her feet, in a last vain effort to conciliate him. Turning, Alfredcaught sight of his poor battered hat. This was the final spur toaction. Snatching it up with one hand, and throwing his latchkey on thetable with the other, he made determinedly for the outer door.
Screaming hysterically, Zoie caught him just as he reached the thresholdand threw the whole weight of her body upon him.
"Alfred," she pleaded, "if you REALLY love me, you CAN'T leave me likethis!" Her emotion was now genuine. He looked down at her gravely--theninto the future.
"There are other things more important than what YOU call 'love,'" hesaid, very solemnly.
"There is such a thing as a soul, if you only knew it. And you have hurtmine through and through."
"But how, Alfred, how?" asked the small person, and there was a frown ofgenuine perplexity on her tiny puckered brow. "What have I REALLY DONE,"She stroked his hand fondly; her baby eyes searched his face.
"It isn't so much what people DO to us that counts," answered Alfred ina proud hurt voice. "It's how much they DISAPPOINT us in what they do. Iexpected better of YOU," he said sadly.
"I'll DO better," coaxed Zoie, "if you'll only give me a chance."
He was half inclined to believe her.
"Now, Allie," she pleaded, perceiving that his resentment was dying andresolved to, at last, adopt a straight course, "if you'll only listen,I'll tell you the REAL TRUTH."
Unprepared for the electrical effect of her remark, Zoie found herselfstaggering to keep her feet. She gazed at Alfred in amazement. His armswere lifted to Heaven, his breath was coming fast.
"'The REAL TRUTH!'" he gasped, then bringing his crushed hat down on hisforehead with a resounding whack, he rushed from her sight.
The clang of the closing elevator door brought Zoie to a realisation ofwhat had actually happened. Determined that Alfred should not escapeher she rushed to the hall door and called to him wildly. There was noanswer. Running back to the room, she threw open the window and threwherself half out of it. She was just in time to see Alfred climb intoa passing taxi. "Alfred!" she cried. Then automatically she flew to the'phone. "Give me 4302 Main," she called and she tried to force back hertears. "Is this Hardy & Company?" she asked.
"Well, this is Mrs. Hardy," she explained.
"I wish you'd ring me up the moment my husband comes in." There was aslight pause, then she clutched the receiver harder. "Not COMING back?"she gasped. "Gone!--to Detroit?" A short moan escaped her lips. Shelet the receiver fall back on the hook and her head went forward on heroutstretched arms.