She made a gesture of assent, and as they walked on he continued: "I haven't yet explained why I am so anxious to get an unbiassed opinion of Dillon's case." She looked at him in surprise. "What you've told[p 17] me about Dr. Disbrow and your manager is surely enough." [p 17] "Well, hardly, considering that I am Truscomb's subordinate. I shouldn't have committed a breach of professional etiquette, or asked you to do so, if I hadn't a hope of bettering things; but I have, and that is why I've held on at Westmore for the last few months, instead of getting out of it altogether." "I'm glad of that," she said quickly. "The owner of the mills—young Richard Westmore—died last winter," he went on, "and my hope—it's no more—is that the new broom may sweep a little cleaner." "Who is the new broom?" "Westmore left everything to his widow, and she is coming here to-morrow to look into the management of the mills." "Coming? She doesn't live here, then?" "At Hanaford? Heaven forbid! It's an anomaly nowadays for the employer to live near the employed. The Westmores have always lived in New York—and I believe they have a big place on Long Island." "Well, at any rate she is coming, and that ought to be a good sign. Did she never show any interest in the mills during her husband's life?" "Not as far as I know. I've been at Westmore three years, and she's not been seen there in my time.[p 18] She is very young, and Westmore himself didn't care. It was a case of inherited money. He drew the dividends, and Truscomb did the rest." [p 18] Miss Brent reflected. "I don't know much about the constitution of companies—but I suppose Mrs. Westmore doesn't unite all the offices in her own person. Is there no one to stand between Truscomb and the operatives?" "Oh, the company, on paper, shows the usual official hierarchy. Richard Westmore, of course, was president, and since his death the former treasurer—Halford Gaines—has replaced him, and his son, Westmore Gaines, has been appointed treasurer. You can see by the
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