Books › The Red Book 1908-02: Vol 10 Iss 4, 1908 › scan 42
Scan 42
The Red Book 1908-02: Vol 10 Iss 4, 1908
57 lines. Read by computer on 17 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 475. See the scan on archive.org.
1THEODORA'S FATHER
3Theodora and Stephen remained in the sitting-room while her father bustled about in the pantry.
5"So you are to play for Rugini," he said, "and conquer Europe."
7"I shall do my best," Miss Galbraith rejoined soberly.
9"Your best—for the sake of this, Theodora?"
11He touched the violin-case on the divan. The girl took out the instrument and caressed it affectionately with a silk scarf from her neck.
13"For the sake of this," she answered. And then, after a pause, "For the sake of my father, too," said Theodora.
15Carlton could not remember that ever before she had spoken to him of any obligation to Moses Galbraith. The subject of her father had naturally been avoided by both of them. Of Theodora's obligation to her art, Stephen himself had once spoken to her; he had once said that her ambition and her talent were to be reverenced by any man who loved her. He knew that she understood. But her father! Was it possible that her father also must come between them—this blatant, money-grubbing vulgarian, who made her ridiculous by his brag?
17"I had a glimpse of you to-night, Stephen, when father applauded me," continued Miss Galbraith, bending over the violin. "I didn't like you—for a minute. The trouble is that you don't know. I am all that father has in the world. For years I have been his life. His hope for my success has been his existence, I believe. Now that I can pay him back, I shall."
19The young lawyer smiled grimly. Pay him back? Had she not paid Moses back a hundredfold? Had he not degraded her Heaven-given genius to be a drudge for dollars and the food of his boorish conceit? The questions maddened Carlton.
21"Is your duty to your father paramount forever?" he contended. "Is your father the sort to deserve such—such—"
23"I think you would better not go on, Stephen," she interposed gently.
25She had raised her head, and in her unswerving eyes Carlton saw the steady light of absolute and defiant loyalty to the old man who was standing on the threshold.
27"All set, folks!" exclaimed Galbraith. "There you are, Theo, dandling your precious fiddle! Well, you'd never get used to another one, I reckon."
29Carlton declined the invitation to supper, and Theodora held out her hand.
31"Good-night," she said, "and good-by—until we're back from the West."
33"So long, Carlton," added her father. "Watch the papers, will you, while we're gone, for news of Rugini?" He kept a calculating glance fixed on the girl. "We must nail that European job, sure, before Rugini sails, eh, Theo?"
35One afternoon, a fortnight later, Stephen went to the Grand Central station to meet the Galbraiths.
37He had received a letter from Theodora. Traveling was tiresome. Her audiences had been kind. Once she had been obliged, by an accident, to use a strange violin and had broken down. Her father insisted upon enclosing some newspaper-notices.
39Carlton saw Miss Galbraith in the waiting-room of the station, standing with her maid near the telephone-booths.
41"You'll be needing a good rest, Theodora," he said critically.
43"Oh, I'm all right," she laughed, but quite unable to laugh the pathetic weariness out of her pale face. "We've had two busy weeks of it, though."
45Moses came out of a telephone-booth.
47"Well, it's fixed, Theo," he remarked. "How are you, Carlton? Rugini, unexpectedly, has to sail to-morrow morning. But he can hear you play to-night, Theo. Mr. Secretary says the contracts will be there, all ready for you to sign. The hearing wont be much more than a matter of form. But his nobs has got to hear you play—Prochonowick'sstudio at eight o'clock." one of two readings
48"Well, it's fixed, Theo," he remarked. "How are you, Carlton? Rugini, unexpectedly, has to sail to-morrow morning. But he can hear you play to-night, Theo. Mr. Secretary says the contracts will be there, all ready for you to sign. The hearing wont be much more than a matter of form. But his nobs has got to hear you play—Prochonowick's studio at eight o'clock." one of two readings
50"It's impossible!" blurted Carlton.
52Old Galbraith was regarding Theodora with a queer, strained expression, as if nerving himself for her reply.
54"I'll play," she said quietly, and her father hurried her to a cab.
56In gloomy solitude at his club, Carlton made a sorrowful pretense at dinner. His heart was very sick indeed. If Rugini took Theodora away from him, her am-
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