"
"Stop, papa."
"A silly love affair as likely as not," he continued monotonously, his
thin lips writhing between the ill-omened sunk corners. "And a very
suspicious thing it is too, on the part of a loving daughter."
She tried to interrupt him but he went on till she actually clapped her
hand on his mouth. He rolled his eyes a bit but when she took her hand
away he remained silent.
"Wait. I must tell you . . . And first of all, papa, understand this,
for everything's in that: he is the most generous man in the world. He
is . . . "
De Barral very still in his corner uttered with an effort "You are in
love with him."
"Papa! He came to me. I was thinking of you. I had no eyes for
anybody. I could no longer bear to think of you. It was then that he
came. Only then. At that time when--when I was going to give up."
She gazed into his faded blue eyes as if yearning to be understood, to be
given encouragement, peace--a word of sympathy. He declared without
animation "I would like to break his neck."
She had the mental exclamation of the overburdened.
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