Could she
be wrong in her estimate of Maggie's character, and what she might
turn out to be? Could she be wrong in her belief that, given enough
time, Larry would outgrow his infatuation for Maggie? And since she
was in such doubt about these two points, had she any right, and was
it for the best, to suppress a fact that might so gravely influence
both matters? She did not know. What she wanted was whatever was best
for Larry--and so in her doubt she had determined to talk again to
Larry, hoping that the interview might in some way replace her
uncertainty with stability of purpose.
Presently she returned to the inner room, and in her direct way and
using the fewest possible words, which had created for her her
reputation of a woman who never spoke and who was packed with strange
secrets, she asked Larry what he had done concerning Maggie. He told
her of the plan he had evolved, of Maggie's visit to Cedar Crest, of
his ignorance of Maggie's reactions. To all this his grandmother made
response neither by word nor by change of expression. He then went on
to tell her of what he had just learned from Casey of Barney's
maneuvering his misfortunes.
The old head nodded. "Yes, Barney's just that sort," she said in her
flat monotone.
And then she came to the purpose of her sending for him.
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