“Matilda!” he said suddenly, looking at his daughter.
“Yes, I’m here,” she said.
“Ay! I want you to do something—”
She rose in anticipation.
“Nay, sit still. I want you to marry Hadrian—”
She thought he was raving. She rose, bewildered and frightened.
“Nay, sit you still, sit you still. You hear what I tell you.”
“But you don’t know what you’re saying, father.”
“Ay, I know well enough. I want you to marry Hadrian, I tell you.”
She was dumbfounded. He was a man of few words.