Finally Kate wandered back to the hotel and went to their room to
learn if Nancy Ellen was there. She was and seemed very much
perturbed. The first thing she did was to hand Kate a big white
envelope, which she opened and found to be a few lines from John
Jardine, explaining that he had been unexpectedly called away on
some very important business. He reiterated his delight in having
seen her, and hoped for the same pleasure at no very distant date.
Kate read it and tossed it on the dresser. As she did so, she saw
a telegram, lying opened among Nancy Ellen's toilet articles, and
thought with pleasure that Robert was coming. She glanced at her
sister for confirmation, and saw that she was staring from the
window as if she were in doubt about something. Kate thought
probably she was still upset about John Jardine, and that might as
well be gotten over, so she said: "That note was not delivered
promptly. It is from John Jardine. I should have had it before I
left. He was called away on important business and wrote to let
me know he would not be able to keep his appointment; but without
his knowledge, he had a representative on the spot."
Nancy Ellen seemed interested so Kate proceeded: "You couldn't
guess in a thousand years. I'll have to tell you spang! It was
his wife."
"His wife!" cried Nancy Ellen. "But you said -- "
"So I did," said Kate. "And so he did. Since the wife loomed on
the horizon, I remembered that he said no word to me of marriage;
he merely said he always had loved me and always would -- "
"Merely?" scoffed Nancy Ellen. "Merely!"
"Just 'merely,'" said Kate. "He didn't lay a finger on me; he
didn't ask me to marry him; he just merely met me after a long
separation, and told me that he still loved me."
"The brute!" said Nancy Ellen. "He should be killed."
"I can't see it," said Kate. "He did nothing ungentlemanly. If
we jumped to wrong conclusions that was not his fault. I doubt if
he remembered or thought at all of his marriage. It wouldn't be
much to forget. I am fresh from an interview with his wife.
She's an old acquaintance of mine. I once secured her for his
mother's maid. You've heard me speak of her."
"Impossible! John Jardine would not do that!" cried Nancy Ellen.
"There's a family to prove it," said Kate. "Jennie admits that
she studied him, taught him, made herself indispensable to him,
and a few weeks after his mother's passing, married him, after he
had told her he did not love her and never could. I feel sorry
for him."
"Sure! Poor defrauded creature!" said Nancy Ellen. "What about
her?"