“Maggie, he didn’t even look like Duff. His face was dark and twisted. I thought for a second it was someone else. I wheeled forward and kicked him with my good leg and he got up and raised his hand to hit me. Then his whole expression changed and he began to cry, the way I haven’t heard him cry since he was five or six years old, and he ran out of the room. After a while Stephanie got up and fixed her clothes and she said, ‘It’s all right, Mr. Caine. It wasn’t his fault.’ ”

“If she said it wasn’t, it wasn’t.”

“Except he really was holding her down and really hurting her. It was really vicious, Maggie.”

“I’m surprised she didn’t leave immediately. I suppose it was good of her to stay until Franny and I got back.”

“I talked to her about that last night. She’s willing to stay on here. She doesn’t want to go home. And Duff’s sorry about the whole thing. He says he doesn’t know what made him do it. Apparently it was a spur of the moment thing, an impulse he couldn’t control. And, as I said, he’s promised it won’t happen again.”

“If it was an uncontrollable impulse, what good is his promise? As long as Stephanie is around, she’ll be a temptation for him.”

“All right, you talk to her then. Send her away, if you feel you must, although I’d hate for her parents and her grandmother to know about it.”

“They probably should be told anyway. What if he made her pregnant? And the solution is not just to pack Stephanie off, but to get away from here ourselves. You’ll have to get in touch with the people in Scarsdale and arrange to cancel the lease. I wish you had phoned me yesterday when the thing happened. It might have been easier then.”

Jack shook his head. “Duff doesn’t want to go back to Scarsdale, Maggie. He wants to stay here.”

“What do we care what he wants? He’s a sixteen-­year-­old child. He’ll do what we think best for him.”

“You talk with him then.”

“I intend to do just that.”

I was angry now, as well as horrified at what had happened. I knew Jack was incapacitated, but I felt he was acting spinelessly. In my opinion, he not only should have given the girl notice, but also ordered Duff to start packing immediately for the return to Scarsdale.

I went back out to the car where Duff was unloading the last of the luggage. Franny had apparently gone up to her room. Duff tried to avoid my gaze.

“Your father told me what happened yesterday,” I said without preamble.

“I figured he would.”

“Under the circumstances, maybe you’d better put all our belongings back in the car. We’re going home.”