George continued to breathe deeply throughout another protracted interval of silence. Then he said, “I should like to revert to the questions I was asking you, if you don’t mind.”
“No, George. I think we’d better—”
“Your father is a business man—”
“He’s a mechanical genius,” Lucy interrupted quickly. “Of course he’s both. And he was a lawyer once—he’s done all sorts of things.”
“Very well. I merely wished to ask if it’s his influence that makes you think I ought to ‘do’ something?”
Lucy frowned slightly. “Why, I suppose almost everything I think or say must be owing to his influence in one way or another. We haven’t had anybody but each other for so many years, and we always think about alike, so of course—”
“I see!” And George’s brow darkened with resentment. “So that’s it, is it? It’s your father’s idea that I ought to go into business and that you oughtn’t to be engaged to me until I do.”
Lucy gave a start, her denial was so quick. “No! I’ve never once spoken to him about it. Never!”
George looked at her keenly, and he jumped to a conclusion not far from the truth. “But you know without talking to him that it’s the way he does feel about it? I see.”
She nodded gravely. “Yes.”