Part 43

MRS. CHINN. Six pounds, sir, Mr. Cohen says it comes to.

GEOFFREY. Won’t they accept repayment?

MRS. CHINN. Yes, sir. Mr. Cohen has been very nice about it. He is going to let me pay it off by instalments.

GEOFFREY. Well, then, that gets over most of the trouble.

MRS. CHINN. Well, you see, sir, unfortunately, Mr. Cohen gave information to the police the moment he discovered it.

GEOFFREY. Umph! Can’t he say he made a mistake?

MRS. CHINN. They say it must go for trial, sir. That he can only withdraw the charge in court.

GEOFFREY. Um!

MRS. CHINN. You see, sir—a thing like that—(She recovers herself.) It clings to a lad.

GEOFFREY. What do you want me to do?

MRS. CHINN. Well, sir, I thought that, perhaps—you see, sir, he has got a brother in Canada who would help him; and I thought that if I could ship him off—

GEOFFREY. You want me to tip the wink to the police to look the other way while you smuggle this young malefactor out of the clutches of the law?

MRS. CHINN. (Quite indifferent to the moral aspect of the case.) If you would be so kind, sir.

GEOFFREY. Umph! I suppose you know what you’re doing; appealing through your womanhood to man’s weakness—employing “backstairs influence” to gain your private ends, indifferent to the higher issues of the public weal? All the things that are going to cease when woman has the vote.

MRS. CHINN. You see, sir, he’s the youngest.

(Gradually the decent but dingy figure of MRS. CHINN has taken to itself new shape. To GEOFFREY, it almost seems as though there were growing out of the shadows over against him the figure of great Artemis herself—Artemis of the Thousand Breasts. He had returned home angry, bitter against all women. As she unfolds her simple tale understanding comes to him. So long as there are “Mrs. Chinns” in the world, Woman claims homage.)

GEOFFREY. How many were there?

MRS. CHINN. Ten altogether, six living.

GEOFFREY. Been a bit of a struggle for you, hasn’t it?

MRS. CHINN. It has been a bit difficult, at times; especially after their poor father died.

GEOFFREY. How many were you left with?

MRS. CHINN. Eight, sir.

GEOFFREY. How on earth did you manage to keep them?

MRS. CHINN. Well, you see, sir, the two eldest, they were earning a little. I don’t think I could have done it without that.

GEOFFREY. Wasn’t there any source from which you could have obtained help? What was your husband?

MRS. CHINN. He worked in the shipyards, sir. There was some talk about it. But, of course, that always means taking the children away from you.

GEOFFREY. Would not that have been better for them?

MRS. CHINN. Not always, sir. Of course, if I hadn’t been able to do my duty by them I should have had to. But, thank God, I’ve always been strong.