She had a reputation for driving hard
bargains, and he judged from her manner that her conference with
Thatcher, whatever its nature, had not been unsatisfactory. He recalled
with exasperation his wife's displeasure over this whole affair; it was
incumbent upon him not only to reestablish himself with Mrs. Owen, but
to do it in a way to satisfy Mrs. Bassett.
"You needn't worry about that lawsuit, Morton; there ain't going to be
any lawsuit."
She gave this time to "soak in," as she would have expressed it, and
then concluded:--
"It's all off; I persuaded Edward to drop the suit. The case will be
dismissed in the morning."
"Dismissed? How dismissed, Aunt Sally?"
"Just dismissed; that's all there is of it. I went to see Fitch, too,
and gave him a piece of my mind. He wrote me a letter I found here
saying that in my absence he'd taken the liberty of entering an
appearance for me, along with you, in the case. I told him I'd attend to
my own lawsuits, and that he could just scratch his appearance off the
docket."
The presumption of her lawyer seemed to obscure all other issues for the
moment. Morton Bassett was annoyed to be kept waiting for an explanation
that was clearly due him as her co-defendant; he controlled his
irritation with difficulty. Her imprudence in having approached his
enemy filled him with forebodings; there was no telling what compromises
she might have negotiated with Edward G.
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