Never had she felt so little of a daughter's liking for Old Jimmie as now when she looked into his lean, harsh, yellow-fanged face.

And she had no illusions about Barney.

He might love her, as she knew he did; but that would not be a check upon his ruthlessness if he thought himself balked or betrayed.
Just then her telephone began to ring.

She started to move toward it, but Barney's grip checked her short.
"You're going to answer me--not any damned telephone! Let it ring!" The bell rang for a minute or two before it stilled its shrill clamor.
Its ringing was in a way a brief respite to Maggie, for it gave her additional time to consider what should be her course.

She realized that she dared not let Barney believe at this moment that she had turned against him.