"You believe that your father loved you then, don't you, Helen?"
"I know he did."
"And yet, loving you as he did, he saw that you must have some better training than he was able to give you; and he wished to make a happy home for you. He did his best for you, and you make things very hard for him. I think he might truly say that his little daughter does not love him."
"But I do, even now. I would do anything in the world for him."
"You show your affection very curiously, Helen."
Helen was silent, and Cousin Mary went on. "When one loves a person truly one ceases to think of one's own happiness so much."
"But I can't do anything to make him happy now."
"You could do a very great deal."
"How?"
"By helping to make his home happy, by being respectful and obedient to your stepmother, and by trying to become what she wishes to see you."