“Go on then—please.”
The kind voice helped her and Maida resumed: “Well, Jeff—Mr. Allen, lives in Boston, and so——”
“So it would be very awkward if your father couldn’t go there.”
“Not only that—but I’ve made a vow never to step foot into Massachusetts until my father can do so, too. Nothing would induce me to break that vow!”
“Not even your lover?” said Keefe, astonished.
“No; my father is more to me than any lover.”
“Then you don’t truly love Mr. Allen.”
“Oh, yes, I do—I do! But father is my idol. I don’t believe any girl ever adored her father as I do. All my life I’ve had only the one object—to make him forget—as far as possible, his trouble. Now, if I were to marry and leave him—why, I simply couldn’t do it!”
“Can’t Mr. Allen live in Connecticut?”
“No; his business interests are all in Boston, and he can’t be transplanted. Oh, if father could only do what Mr. Appleby wants him to, then we could all be happy.”