or you would have to leave him in a year or two. Anything but that. Get away from it now and it will all blow over. You’ve got a future, my dear girl. You could marry anybody. I want you to get away from it at once, Dick. I’m going to give you a couple of thousand pounds to go to London, Europe, travel for a year or two, and get over it.”
“That’s awfully good of you, dad. But you are overlooking something. What am I to do with my moral sense? I’ve let him care for me, in fact I made him care for me, you know.”
The coldness of her tone chilled her father.
“Oh, we all think it’s our moral sense. Don’t you suppose I know something about human nature?” he said, a little impatiently. “And of course you think his heart will be broken. That’s where you women are all so silly. If Barrington told the truth he’d be the first person to be amused at that idea.”
“He might be. Indeed, I think he would. But the point of all this is that I care, that I believe he cares. I have to live with that belief for the present at least. What have you to say to that?”
“It’s just romantic nonsense. And you’ll live to see it.”
“It’s romantic indeed, dad, but it isn’t nonsense. And now that I know what you think about it it amuses me to think that Dane insisted on marrying me a month ago, really out of consideration for you, out of respect for your code—now you needn’t look like that ———”
“Married! You’re married! Why the deuce wasn’t I told this before?”
“Goodness me, what difference does it make? Do you forget what you’ve been saying about it?”
Her father gave her one look, got to his feet, took up
