Page:A Good Woman (1927).pdf/270

 I'm very fond of him, and he's been thoughtful—so thoughtful all the time you were sick."

"It's disgusting!"

It was odd, what had happened—that he found himself for the first time in his life taking a high hand with his mother. It was an intoxicating sensation.

"If I give him up, I'll be giving up a great opportunity for good. As a Congressman's wife, there's no end to the things I could accomplish. . . ." She began to cry. "But I'll give him up . . . I'll give him up if you won't turn your back on your poor mother. I'd do anything for you, Philip. You're all I've got, and I hoped for so much—to see you one of the great men of the church, a Christian leader, fighting on the side of God."

"It's no good, Ma. I won't go back to that."

One of the waitresses appeared suddenly from behind the screen. "Mrs. Downes . . ." she began.

"Go away! Go away! I'll talk to you later."

The girl disappeared.

"And that isn't all, Ma. I'm not going to live with Naomi any more. I'm through with that. I meant what I said when I was sick."

"Philip—listen to me, Philip!"

"No . . . I'll come to see her and the children. But I'm through."

"What will people think? What will they say?"

"You can tell them I've got a night job. . . . Nobody'll know, except Aunt Mabelle, where Naomi is going to live. Nobody will see me come or go. It's in Front Street."

"Front Street! Why, that's on the edge of the Flats! You can't do that!" 