Jennie Gerhardt: A Novel

by Theodore Dreiser

  CHAPTER LII

  The fact that Gerhardt was dead made no particular difference toLester, except as it affected Jennie. He had liked the old German forhis many sterling qualities, but beyond that he thought nothing of himone way or the other. He took Jennie to a watering-place for ten daysto help her recover her spirits, and it was soon after this that hedecided to tell her just how things stood with him; he would put theproblem plainly before her. It would be easier now, for Jennie hadbeen informed of the disastrous prospects of the real-estate deal. Shewas also aware of his continued interest in Mrs. Gerald. Lester didnot hesitate to let Jennie know that he was on very friendly termswith her. Mrs. Gerald had, at first, formally requested him to bringJennie to see her, but she never had called herself, and Jennieunderstood quite clearly that it was not to be. Now that her fatherwas dead, she was beginning to wonder what was going to become of her;she was afraid that Lester might not marry her. Certainly he showed nosigns of intending to do so.

  By one of those curious coincidences of thought, Robert also hadreached the conclusion that something should be done. He did not, forone moment, imagine that he could directly work upon Lester--hedid not care to try--but he did think that some influence mightbe brought to bear on Jennie. She was probably amenable to reason. IfLester had not married her already, she must realize full well that hedid not intend to do so. Suppose that some responsible third personwere to approach her, and explain how things were, including, ofcourse, the offer of an independent income? Might she not be willingto leave Lester, and end all this trouble? After all, Lester was hisbrother, and he ought not to lose his fortune. Robert had things verymuch in his own hands now, and could afford to be generous. He finallydecided that Mr. O'Brien, of Knight, Keatley & O'Brien, would bethe proper intermediary, for O'Brien was suave, good-natured, andwell-meaning, even if he was a lawyer. He might explain to Jennie verydelicately just how the family felt, and how much Lester stood to loseif he continued to maintain his connection with her. If Lester hadmarried Jennie, O'Brien would find it out. A liberal provision wouldbe made for her--say fifty or one hundred thousand, or even onehundred and fifty thousand dollars. He sent for Mr. O'Brien and gavehim his instructions. As one of the executors of Archibald Kane'sestate, it was really the lawyer's duty to look into the matter ofLester's ultimate decision.

  Mr. O'Brien journeyed to Chicago. On reaching the city, he calledup Lester, and found out to his satisfaction that he was out of townfor the day. He went out to the house in Hyde Park, and sent in hiscard to Jennie. She came down-stairs in a few minutes quiteunconscious of the import of his message; he greeted her mostblandly.

  "This is Mrs. Kane?" he asked, with an interlocutory jerk of hishead.

  "Yes," replied Jennie.

  "I am, as you see by my card, Mr. O'Brien, of Knight, Keatley &O'Brien," he began. "We are the attorneys and executors of the lateMr. Kane, your--ah--Mr. Kane's father. You'll think it'srather curious, my coming to you, but under your husband's father'swill there were certain conditions stipulated which affect you and Mr.Kane very materially. These provisions are so important that I thinkyou ought to know about them--that is if Mr. Kane hasn't alreadytold you. I--pardon me--but the peculiar nature of themmakes me conclude that--possibly--he hasn't." He paused, avery question-mark of a man--every feature of his face aninterrogation.

  "I don't quite understand," said Jennie. "I don't know anythingabout the will. If there's anything that I ought to know, I supposeMr. Kane will tell me. He hasn't told me anything as yet."

  "Ah!" breathed Mr. O'Brien, highly gratified. "Just as I thought.Now, if you will allow me I'll go into the matter briefly. Then youcan judge for yourself whether you wish to hear the full particulars.Won't you sit down?" They had both been standing. Jennie seatedherself, and Mr. O'Brien pulled up a chair near to hers.

  "Now to begin," he said. "I need not say to you, of course, thatthere was considerable opposition on the part of Mr. Kane's father, tothis--ah--union between yourself and his son."

  "I know--" Jennie started to say, but checked herself. She waspuzzled, disturbed, and a little apprehensive.

  "Before Mr. Kane senior died," he went on, "he indicated toyour--ah--to Mr. Lester Kane, that he felt this way. In hiswill he made certain conditions governing the distribution of hisproperty which made it rather hard for his son,your--ah--husband, to come into his rightful share.Ordinarily, he would have inherited one-fourth of the KaneManufacturing Company, worth to-day in the neighborhood of a milliondollars, perhaps more; also one-fourth of the other properties, whichnow aggregate something like five hundred thousand dollars. I believeMr. Kane senior was really very anxious that his son should inheritthis property. But owing to the conditions whichyour--ah--which Mr. Kane's father made, Mr. Lester Kanecannot possibly obtain his share, except by complying witha--with a--certain wish which his father had expressed."

  Mr. O'Brien paused, his eyes moving back and forth side wise intheir sockets. In spite of the natural prejudice of the situation, hewas considerably impressed with Jennie's pleasing appearance. He couldsee quite plainly why Lester might cling to her in the face of allopposition. He continued to study her furtively as he sat therewaiting for her to speak.

  "And what was that wish?" she finally asked, her nerves becomingjust a little tense under the strain of the silence.

  "I am glad you were kind enough to ask me that," he went on. "Thesubject is a very difficult one for me to introduce--verydifficult. I come as an emissary of the estate, I might say as one ofthe executors under the will of Mr. Kane's father. I know how keenlyyour--ah--how keenly Mr. Kane feels about it. I know howkeenly you will probably feel about it. But it is one of those verydifficult things which cannot be helped--which must be got oversomehow. And while I hesitate very much to say so, I must tell youthat Mr. Kane senior stipulated in his will that unless,unless"--again his eyes were moving sidewise to and fro--"hesaw fit to separate from--ah--you" he paused to getbreath--"he could not inherit this or any other sum or, at least,only a very minor income of ten thousand a year; and that only oncondition that he should marry you." He paused again. "I should add,"he went on, "that under the will he was given three years in which toindicate his intentions. That time is now drawing to a close."

  He paused, half expecting some outburst of feeling from Jennie, butshe only looked at him fixedly, her eyes clouded with surprise,distress, unhappiness. Now she understood. Lester was sacrificing hisfortune for her. His recent commercial venture was an effort torehabilitate himself, to put himself in an independent position. Therecent periods of preoccupation, of subtle unrest, and ofdissatisfaction over which she had grieved were now explained. He wasunhappy, he was brooding over this prospective loss, and he had nevertold her. So his father had really disinherited him!

  Mr. O'Brien sat before her, troubled himself. He was very sorry forher, now that he saw the expression of her face. Still the truth hadto come out. She ought to know.

  "I'm sorry," he said, when he saw that she was not going to makeany immediate reply, "that I have been the bearer of such unfortunatenews. It is a very painful situation that I find myself in at thismoment, I assure you. I bear you no ill will personally--ofcourse you understand that. The family really bears you no ill willnow--I hope you believe that. As I told your--ah--as Itold Mr. Kane, at the time the will was read, I considered it mostunfair, but, of course, as a mere executive under it and counsel forhis father, I could do nothing. I really think it best that you shouldknow how things stand, in order that you may help your--yourhusband"--he paused, significantly--"if possible, to somesolution. It seems a pity to me, as it does to the various othermembers of his family, that he should lose all this money."

  Jennie had turned her head away and was staring at the floor. Shefaced him now steadily. "He mustn't lose it," she said; "it isn't fairthat he should."

  "I am most delighted to hear you say that, Mrs.--Mrs. Kane,"he went on, using for the first time her improbable title as Lester'swife, without hesitation. "I may as well b
e very frank with you, andsay that I feared you might take this information in quite anotherspirit. Of course you know to begin with that the Kane family is veryclannish. Mrs. Kane, your--ah--your husband's mother, was avery proud and rather distant woman, and his sisters and brothers arerather set in their notions as to what constitute proper familyconnections. They look upon his relationship to you as irregular,and--pardon me if I appear to be a little cruel--as notgenerally satisfactory. As you know, there had been so much talk inthe last few years that Mr. Kane senior did not believe that thesituation could ever be nicely adjusted, so far as the family wasconcerned. He felt that his son had not gone about it right in thefirst place. One of the conditions of his will was that if yourhusband--pardon me--if his son did not accept theproposition in regard to separating from you and taking up hisrightful share of the estate, then to inherit anything atall--the mere ten thousand a year I mentioned before--hemust--ah--he must pardon me, I seem a little brutal, but notintentionally so--marry you."

  Jennie winced. It was such a cruel thing to say this to her face.This whole attempt to live together illegally had proved disastrous atevery step. There was only one solution to the unfortunatebusiness--she could see that plainly. She must leave him, or hemust leave her. There was no other alternative. Lester living on tenthousand dollars a year! It seemed silly.

  Mr. O'Brien was watching her curiously. He was thinking that Lesterboth had and had not made a mistake. Why had he not married her in thefirst place? She was charming.

  "There is just one other point which I wish to make in thisconnection, Mrs. Kane," he went on softly and easily. "I see now thatit will not make any difference to you, but I am commissioned and in away constrained to make it. I hope you will take it in the manner inwhich it is given. I don't know whether you are familiar with yourhusband's commercial interests or not?"

  "No," said Jennie simply.

  "Well, in order to simplify matters, and to make it easier for you,should you decide to assist your husband to a solution of this verydifficult situation--frankly, in case you might possibly decideto leave on your own account, and maintain a separate establishment ofyour own I am delighted to say that--ah--any sum,say--ah--"

  Jennie rose and walked dazedly to one of the windows, clasping herhands as she went. Mr. O'Brien rose also.

  "Well, be that as it may. In the event of your deciding to end theconnection it has been suggested that any reasonable sum you mightname, fifty, seventy-five, a hundred thousand dollars"--Mr.O'Brien was feeling very generous toward her--"would be gladlyset aside for your benefit--put in trust, as it were, so that youwould have it whenever you needed it. You would never want foranything."

  "Please don't," said Jennie, hurt beyond the power to expressherself, unable mentally and physically to listen to another word."Please don't say any more. Please go away. Let me alone now, please.I can go away. I will. It will be arranged. But please don't talk tome any more, will you?"

  "I understand how you feel, Mrs. Kane," went on Mr. O'Brien, comingto a keen realization of her sufferings. "I know exactly, believe me.I have said all I intend to say. It has been very hard for me to dothis--very hard. I regret the necessity. You have my card. Pleasenote the name. I will come any time you suggest, or you can write me.I will not detain you any longer. I am sorry. I hope you will see fitto say nothing to your husband of my visit--it will be advisablethat you should keep your own counsel in the matter. I value hisfriendship very highly, and I am sincerely sorry."

  Jennie only stared at the floor.

  Mr. O'Brien went out into the hall to get his coat. Jennie touchedthe electric button to summon the maid, and Jeannette came. Jenniewent back into the library, and Mr. O'Brien paced briskly down thefront walk. When she was really alone she put her doubled hands to herchin, and stared at the floor, the queer design of the silken Turkishrug resolving itself into some curious picture. She saw herself in asmall cottage somewhere, alone with Vesta; she saw Lester living inanother world, and beside him Mrs. Gerald. She saw this house vacant,and then a long stretch of time, and then--

  "Oh," she sighed, choking back a desire to cry. With her hands shebrushed away a hot tear from each eye. Then she got up.

  "It must be," she said to herself in thought. "It must be. Itshould have been so long ago." And then--"Oh, thank God that papais dead Anyhow, he did not live to see this."