He had taken their beauty, their wit, their
sanity, as matters of course; he had never looked at them, clearly, from
the outside; he had never quite thoroughly appreciated them. They had
come this far, guideless, in the journey of life, and had done well and
bravely; but now Susie, at least, had reached a point in the path where
she needed help and counsel. She had come to him for it and he must give
her the best he had.
"Dad," she began, a little tremulously, "would you mind so _very_ much
if I should m-marry and live in Europe? Of course," she added, hastily,
to break the force of the blow, "you would come over very often and stay
with us, and we would go over very often to see you."
"So he _has_ spoken to you, has he?" laughed her father. "He told me he
hadn't."
"Spoken! You know about it? Oh, dad, what do you mean?"
"I mean that a certain William Frederick Albert, of Markeld--I believe
that's his name--or most of it--was in here a while ago and had the
impudence to ask me to give you to him."
"Oh!" gasped Susie, with flaming cheeks, and sank back in her chair and
I dare say cried a little; but her father didn't see her, for his own
eyes were full of tears. The moment passed, the tears were wiped
away--"Tell me about it, dad," she said.
"Tell you about it? I have told you!"
"About what he said.
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