“You must not, you shall not act like a spoiled child!” he said, vigorously. “I never thought that you would accuse me of lack of interest in you. I that have done so much for you, far more than you know or conjecture. If you knew all you would not treat me so.”
“If I knew all! What is there for me to know?”
“I cannot tell you now, Jennie. I have been more a friend to you than you imagine, and it pains me to have you turn on me in that way. I am more than your guardian. There is a secret connected with your life which I have been charged to reveal when you came of age.”
“A secret! A disgraceful secret!” she cried. “How could I, a child, have incurred any disgrace? What is this secret? I am not afraid of it. These half-revealings are tenfold worse than silence. Does it affect my father?”
“Your father. He was an honorable man. There is no whisper against him.”
“My father! You emphasize this as if he was not my father. I demand to know what you mean by these innuendoes. It is not fair, sir, to revenge yourself on my just indignation by such an insinuation as this.”
“I have said too much, Jennie. More than I thought of saying at this time. I withdraw it all.”
“Withdraw!” she cried, with a scornful accent. “You cannot withdraw a storm that has been let loose. Silence now is worse than the truth. Who is my father and what has he done to disgrace me? I must have an answer.”
“I did not speak of disgrace. There are misfortunes that are no disgrace.”
“What misfortune, then?”