Carmella Commands
“So I hear. Why not?”
“Because, you see, he was taken sick. He’s in the hospital.”
“You mean you fired him?”’
“Of course not. But you know one can’t wait weeks and weeks for one’s chauffeur to be ill. Mr. Barrington was very liberal with him, and he’ll have no difficulty in getting another place. I shall give him a recommendation.”
“But couldn’t you have hired a man just while Dixon was in the hospital?”
“I don’t know. Good chauffeurs are hard to find. Barclay is a treasure, and he insisted on a permanent place.”
“He’s English, all right. He’ll ditch you some day. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be going. What hospital is Mr. Dixon in?”
“But, Kid Kate, we haven’t finished luncheon, and⸺”
“Excuse me! What hospital is Dixon in?”
“In the Memorial, but⸺”
“I’m going to call on Mr. Dixon, and I think you’re a damned heathen, Mrs. Barrington, to fire a man for being sick. I’ll bet he caught cold driving for you.”
She left the dining table abruptly, and ran from the house. Mrs. Barrington, thus dramatically deserted, had no heart to finish her luncheon.
At home that evening Carmella curled herself on the arm of her father’s favorite chair for a talk in Italian.
[237]
