TWENTYTHE next I knew, Mother had rushed toward me and was trying to snatch the letter from my hands. When I thrust her away, she clawed at my face. I slapped her as hard as I could, almost knocking her down.
“What in the devil does this mean?” Colonel Reeve was shouting.
“That girl—my own daughter—trying to blackmail me—” My mother burst out sobbing.
“I want the straight of this,” he demanded in a cold voice. “If either of you claim to be ladies—”
“I’ll give you the straight of it, if you can make her shut up,” I answered.
My mother stopped crying instantly. “Tony, Lucia has always been bad. She’s got too much of her father in her. Now she’s trying to go on the stage. She wants money—and I was so ashamed—so frightened—that you just heard me offer her some. I don’t know what she’s wri
