“‘I’m mighty glad to see you,’ said he. ‘Mighty glad.’”
This outburst of nature on her part was a grave tactical blunder—for, in dealing with men of his sort, the guard can never be dropped; their habit of seeing and seizing advantage is too powerful ever to relax. Upsetting to him though his agitation and delight were, he did not cease to be himself. The instant he saw how moved she was, how she was meeting his advances half way at least, if not more, he began to hope he could spare himself the hated dish of crow. So, although his napkin was tucked under his chin and his knife and fork were in air, eager for the festal attack, he did not proceed. He had intended his next words to be a sweeping apology. Instead, he said:
“I see you’ve been thinking things over, just as I have.”
“Yes,” replied she.
“We were both hasty. You inherit my disposition—and it’s a rather difficult one.” He was hesitatingly caressing her hand. “I wanted a boy with my sort of brain,” he went on. “But it didn’t turn out that way. You inherited, instead. Just as well, perhaps. I’d have broken with a boy like myself. But the feminine in you saves the situation. We can forgive each other without pride interfering.... I’m sorry for what I did, and I’ve no doubt you are. Let’s forget it all and go home and begin again.”
“You mean that, father?” cried she, tears again welling into her eyes. “Oh, you do love me! And I thought you didn’t.”
“This business has aged me ten years,” said he, thinking rapidly as he was still further encouraged by those tears. “I saw it myself when I shaved this morning.”
Beatrice hung her head. For the moment she felt guilty. She—she had aged this loving, always-indulgent father!
This further evidence of feminine softness and affection encouraged him to the point of believing himself once more master. He said, in a forgiving tone: “But you didn’t realize what you were doing. Well, you’ve had a valuable lesson, my dear, and you’ve got the intelligence to profit by it. How long will it take you to get ready?”
“Oh, not long. I’ve got some things to attend to, but I can do it at Red Hill just as well as here, I think.”