She, too,
was serene and stately; Montague wondered what was in her mind. How
much did she know about her father's career? Surely she could not
have persuaded herself that all that she had heard was calumny.
There might be question about this offence or that, but of the great
broad facts there could be no question. And did she justify it and
excuse it; or was she, too, secretly unhappy? And was this the
reason for her pride, and for her bitter speeches? It was a
continual topic of chatter in Society, how Laura Hegan had withdrawn
herself from all of her mother's affairs, and was interesting
herself in work in the slums. Could it be that Nemesis had overtaken
Jim Hegan in the form of his daughter? That she was the conscience
by which he was to be tormented?
Jim Hegan never talked about his affairs. In all the time that
Montague spent with him during his two days at Newport, he gave just
one hint for the other to go upon. "Money?" he remarked, that
evening. "I don't care about money. Money is just chips to me."
Life was a game, and the chips were dollars! What he had played for
was power! And suddenly Montague seemed to see the career of this
man, unrolled before him like a panorama.
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