The President's Daughter (Britton)/Chapter 160
When Daisy Harding and I were doing up the dishes that evening, I said to her, "Why, you said he would probably be very severe in his remarks to me. He wasn't so terrible—just wanted to know dates. I was not afraid of him." I did not add that rather had I felt sorry for him. Miss Harding replied that he had threatened to "pin me down" to every little thing. However, he hadn't needed to contemplate any such strenuous course of action, for I was all too ready to talk freely and truthfully. Miss Harding sighed. "Brother Deac is not well. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he were to go any day; his heart is very weak." I said I was sorry to hear that. I was pretty weak myself.
I told Miss Harding that her brother had asked me for the dates of the two checks which I had sent personally to my sister Elizabeth, for the baby's care, in amounts of $500 and $525, and I had promised to send these to him. Also he had asked me for the date upon which Mr. Harding had sent me my watch, and this date, also, I would send him from New York immediately upon my return.
I did not think Miss Harding seemed anxious for me to remain over until the following day, and so I decided to return on the late train that night. Her husband, Mr. Lewis, bade me goodbye and retired early, leaving Miss Harding and me to talk together until my taxi came. Ralph Lewis seemed to be such a dear, and I have often wondered exactly what is in his mind as to my liaison with his wife's brother. Yes, I thought, as I shook hands with him that night, I would give a lot to know just what Ralph Lewis thinks—the good-natured man who used to sell me sour pickles in his grocery-store—when I was a little girl!