"Sailed away from a sinking wreck
With a—something—something—on her deck,"
he quoted diabolically.
"Hush!" warned Jaffrey Bretton.
"I had my own life to consider!" flared Claudia Merriwayne.
"You had your own life to consider," bowed Jaffrey Bretton.
"My people were very poor!" flared Claudia Merriwayne. "They had made great sacrifices to educate me! Already, even then, my chances of future academic distinction were the sole topics in my home!"
"Already," acquiesced Jaffrey Bretton, "your chances of future academic distinction were the sole topics in your home! . . .
"So you see, Daphne," he turned and readdressed his little girl suddenly, "so you see that, even across a mistake like that, people may yet achieve real honors and much usefulness!"
Like a man a little bit weary, his arms dropped down to his 194 sides again, but his figure still blocked the doorway.