Read "The Reaping" by Mary Imlay Taylor online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
TWO days later Mrs. Allestree rang the bell at Margaret's door with a sudden sensation of panic. She had felt it her duty to go, in spite of Robert's protests, for the morning newspaper had printed a scarcely veiled account of the scandal in the Cabinet. White, it appeared, had openly quarrelled with his wife and abruptly left her the day before, publishing his private affairs by going to a large hotel which was crowded with fashionable guests. Society caught its breath and waited -- with the relish that it usually waits -- for a _cause célèbre_.
"It's a cowardly thing to do, Robert," Mrs. Allestree declared hotly; "no man should expose a woman to such a scandal. I shall go to see Margaret to-day, it's my duty!"