"That sort of election and predestination may be very convenient for Mrs. Wappinger, but I should think you might have reasons for not caring to indorse it."
"I haven't. Why should I, more than anybody else."
"You've so much social perspicacity that I hoped you would see without my having to tell you. It's chiefly a question of antecedents."
Dorothea looked thoughtful, her head tipped to one side, as she buttered a bit of toast.
"I know that's an important point," she admitted, "but it isn't everything. You've got to look at things all round, and not mistake your shadow for your bone."
"I'm glad you see there is a shadow."
"I see there is only a shadow."
"A shadow on—what?"
Pruyn meant this for a leading question, and as such Dorothea took it. She gazed at him for a minute with the clear eyes and straightforward expression that were so essential a part of her dainty, self-reliant personality. If she was bracing herself for an effort, there was no external sign of it.
"I may as well tell you, father," she said, "that Carli Wappinger has asked me to marry him."