"I shall be gone only one night. It is on your behalf that I am going."
"On my behalf, papa?"
"I have been writing to Lady Cantrip."
"Not about Mr. Tregear?"
"No;—not about Mr. Tregear," said the father with a mixture of anger and solemnity in his tone. "It is my desire to regard Mr. Tregear as though he did not exist."
"That is not possible, papa."
"I have alluded to the inconvenience of your position here."
"Why is it inconvenient?"
"You are too young to be without a companion. It is not fit that you should be so much alone."
"I do not feel it."