place, and he was not in much danger of encountering people who would
know him, but he thought it just as well not to take chances. Accordingly he had the cabman drive them to one of the more exclusive apartment
hotels, where he engaged a suite of rooms; and they settled themselves
for a stay of two or three weeks.
This atmosphere into which Jennie was now plunged was so wonderful,
so illuminating, that she could scarcely believe this was the same world
that she had inhabited before. Kane was no lover of vulgar display. The
appointments with which he surrounded himself were always simple and
elegant. He knew at a glance what Jennie needed, and bought for her with
discrimination and care. And Jennie, a woman, took a keen pleasure in
the handsome gowns and pretty fripperies that he lavished upon her.
Could this be really Jennie Gerhardt, the washerwoman's daughter, she
asked herself, as she gazed in her mirror at the figure of a girl clad in blue velvet, with yellow French lace at her throat and upon her arms? Could
these be her feet, clad in soft shapely shoes at ten dollars a pair, these her hands adorned with flashing jewels? What wonderful good fortune she
was enjoying! And Lester had promised that her mother would share in it.
Tears sprang to her eyes at the thought. The dear mother, how she loved
her!
It was Lester's pleasure in these days to see what he could do to make her look like some one truly worthy of him. He exercised his most careful
judgment, and the result surprised even himself. People turned in the
halls, in the dining-rooms, and on the street to gaze at Jennie.
"A stunning woman that man has with him," was a frequent comment.
Despite her altered state Jennie did not lose her judgment of life or her sense of perspective or proportion. She felt as though life were tentatively loaning her something which would be taken away after a time. There
was no pretty vanity in her bosom. Lester realized this as he watched her.
"You're a big woman, in your way," he said. "You'll amount to something.
Life hasn't given you much of a deal up to now."
He wondered how he could justify this new relationship to his family,
should they chance to hear about it. If he should decide to take a home in Chicago or St. Louis (there was such a thought running in his mind) could he maintain it secretly? Did he want to? He was half persuaded that he
really, truly loved her.
As the time drew near for their return he began to counsel her as to her
future course of action. "You ought to find some way of introducing me, as an acquaintance, to your father," he said. "It will ease matters up. I think I'll call. Then if you tell him you're going to marry me he'll think nothing of it." Jennie thought of Vesta, and trembled inwardly. But
perhaps her father could be induced to remain silent.
Lester had made the wise suggestion that she should retain the clothes she had worn in Cleveland in order that she might wear them home when she
reached there. "There won't be any trouble about this other stuff," he said.
"I'll have it cared for until we make some other arrangement." It was all very simple and easy; he was a master strategist.
Jennie had written her mother almost daily since she had been East. She
had enclosed little separate notes to be read by Mrs. Gerhardt only. In one she explained Lester's desire to call, and urged her mother to prepare the way by telling her father that she had met someone who liked her. She
spoke of the difficulty concerning Vesta, and her mother at once began to plan a campaign to have Gerhardt hold his peace. There must be no hitch
now. Jennie must be given an opportunity to better herself. When she
returned there was great rejoicing. Of course she could not go back to her work, but Mrs. Gerhardt explained that Mrs. Bracebridge had given
Jennie a few weeks' vacation in order that she might look for something
better, something at which she could make more money.
CHAPTER XXIV
The problem of the Gerhardt family and its relationship to himself
comparatively settled, Kane betook himself to Cincinnati and to his
business duties. He was heartily interested in the immense plant, which
occupied two whole blocks in the outskirts of the city, and its conduct and development was as much a problem and a pleasure to him as to either his
father or his brother. He liked to feel that he was a vital part of this great and growing industry. When he saw freight cars going by on the railroads
labelled "The Kane Manufacturing Company—Cincinnati" or chanced to notice displays of the company's products in the windows of carriage
sales companies in the different cities he was conscious of a warm glow
of satisfaction. It was something to be a factor in an institution so stable, so distinguished, so honestly worthwhile. This was all very well, but now Kane was entering upon a new phase of his personal existence—in a
word, there was Jennie. He was conscious as he rode toward his home
city that he was entering on a relationship which might involve
disagreeable consequences. He was a little afraid of his father's attitude; above all, there was his brother Robert.
Robert was cold and conventional in character; an excellent business
man; irreproachable in both his public and in his private life. Never
overstepping the strict boundaries of legal righteousness, he was neither warm-hearted nor generous—in fact, he would turn any trick which could
be speciously, or at best necessitous, recommended to his conscience.
How he reasoned Lester did not know—he could not follow the
ramifications of a logic which could combine hard business tactics with
moral rigidity, but somehow his brother managed to do it. "He's got a Scotch Presbyterian conscience mixed with an Asiatic perception of the
main chance," Lester once told somebody, and he had the situation
accurately measured. Nevertheless he could not rout his brother from his
positions nor defy him, for he had the public conscience with him. He
was in line with convention practically, and perhaps sophisticatedly.
The two brothers were outwardly friendly; inwardly they were far apart.
Robert liked Lester well enough personally, but he did not trust his
financial judgment, and, temperamentally, they did not agree as to how
life and its affairs should be conducted. Lester had a secret contempt for his brother's chill, persistent chase of the almighty dollar. Robert was sure that Lester's easy-going ways were reprehensible, and bound to create
trouble sooner or later. In the business they did not quarrel much—there
was not so much chance with the old gentleman still in charge—but there
were certain minor differences constantly cropping up which showed
which way the wind blew. Lester was for building up trade through
friendly relationship, concessions, personal contact, and favors. Robert
was for pulling everything tight, cutting down the cost of production, and offering such financial inducements as would throttle competition.
The old manufacturer always did his best to pour oil on these troubled
waters, but he foresaw an eventual clash. One or the other would have to
get out or perhaps both. "If only you two boys could agree!" he used to say.
Another thing which disturbed Lester was his father's attitude on the