Jennie Gerhardt

 
 
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CHAPTER XXV 
A month later Jennie was able to announce that Lester intended to marry 
her. His visits had of course paved the way for this, and it seemed natural 
enough. Only Gerhardt seemed a little doubtful. He did not know just how 
this might be. Perhaps it was all right. Lester seemed a fine enough man in 
all conscience, and really, after Brander, why not? If a United States Senator 
could fall in love with Jennie, why not a business man? There was just one 
thing—the child. "Has she told him about Vesta?" he asked his wife. 
"No," said Mrs. Gerhardt, "not yet." 
"Not yet, not yet. Always something underhanded. Do you think he wants 
her if he knows? That's what comes of such conduct in the first place. Now 
she has to slip around like a thief. The child cannot even have an honest 
name." 
Gerhardt went back to his newspaper reading and brooding. His life seemed 
a complete failure to him and he was only waiting to get well enough to hunt 
up another job as watchman. He wanted to get out of this mess of deception 
and dishonesty. 
A week or two later Jennie confided to her mother that Lester had written 
her to join him in Chicago. He was not feeling well, and could not come to 
Cleveland. The two women explained to Gerhardt that Jennie was going 
away to be married to Mr. Kane. Gerhardt flared up at this, and his 
suspicions were again aroused. But he could do nothing but grumble over 
the situation; it would lead to no good end, of that he was sure. 
When the day came for Jennie's departure she had to go without saying 
farewell to her father. He was out looking for work until late in the 
afternoon, and before he had returned she had been obliged to leave for the 
station. "I will write a note to him when I get there," she said. She kissed her 
baby over and over. "Lester will take a better house for us soon," she went 
on hopefully. "He wants us to move." The night train bore her to Chicago; 
the old life had ended and the new one had begun. 
The curious fact should be recorded here that, although Lester's generosity 
had relieved the stress upon the family finances, the children and Gerhardt 
were actually none the wiser. It was easy for Mrs. Gerhardt to deceive her 
husband as to the purchase of necessities and she had not as yet indulged 
in any of the fancies which an enlarged purse permitted. Fear deterred her. 
But, after Jennie had been in Chicago for a few days, she wrote to her 
mother saying that Lester wanted them to take a new home. This letter was 
shown to Gerhardt, who had been merely biding her return to make a scene. 
He frowned, but somehow it seemed an evidence of regularity. If he had not 
married her why should he want to help them? Perhaps Jennie was well 
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married after all. Perhaps she really had been lifted to a high station in life, 
and was now able to help the family. Gerhardt almost concluded to forgive 
her everything once and for all. 
The end of it was that a new house was decided upon, and Jennie returned 
to Cleveland to help her mother move. Together they searched the streets for 
a nice, quiet neighborhood, and finally found one. A house of nine rooms, 
with a yard, which rented for thirty dollars, was secured and suitably 
furnished. There were comfortable fittings for the dining-room and sitting-
room, a handsome parlor set and bedroom sets complete for each room. The 
kitchen was supplied with every convenience, and there was even a bath-
room, a luxury the Gerhardts had never enjoyed before. Altogether the 
house was attractive, though plain, and Jennie was happy to know that her 
family could be comfortable in it. 
When the time came for the actual moving Mrs. Gerhardt was fairly beside 
herself with joy, for was not this the realization of her dreams? All through 
the long years of her life she had been waiting, and now it had come. A new 
house, new furniture, plenty of room—things finer than she had ever even 
imagined—think of it! Her eyes shone as she looked at the new beds and 
tables and bureaus and whatnots. "Dear, dear, isn't this nice!" she 
exclaimed. "Isn't it beautiful!" Jennie smiled and tried to pretend satisfaction 
without emotion, but there were tears in her eyes. She was so glad for her 
mother's sake. She could have kissed Lester's feet for his goodness to her 
family. 
The day the furniture was moved in Mrs. Gerhardt, Martha, and Veronica 
were on hand to clean and arrange things. At the sight of the large rooms 
and pretty yard, bare enough in winter, but giving promise of a delightful 
greenness in spring, and the array of new furniture standing about in 
excelsior, the whole family fell into a fever of delight. Such beauty, such 
spaciousness! George rubbed his feet over the new carpets and Bass 
examined the quality of the furniture critically. "Swell," was his comment. 
Mrs. Gerhardt roved to and fro like a person in a dream. She could not 
believe that these bright bedrooms, this beautiful parlor, this handsome 
dining-room were actually hers. 
Gerhardt came last of all. Although he tried hard not to show it, he, too, 
could scarcely refrain from enthusiastic comment. The sight of an opal-
globed chandelier over the dining-room table was the finishing touch. 
"Gas, yet!" he said. 
He looked grimly around, under his shaggy eyebrows, at the new carpets 
under his feet, the long oak extension table covered with a white cloth and 
set with new dishes, at the pictures on the walls, the bright, clean kitchen. 
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He shook his head. "By chops, it's fine!" he said. "It's very nice. Yes, it's very 
nice. We want to be careful now not to break anything. It's so easy to 
scratch things up, and then it's all over." Yes, even Gerhardt was satisfied.