“Isn’t that proof of worth?”
“It suggests sound business acumen.”
“With industry and perseverance,” he insisted.
“Generosity is finer than these qualities.” She was thinking of the unfortunate confidence relating to Steele.
“You at least have not found him lacking in that quality,” he said, surprised. “He has showered gifts on you.”
“He has been very generous to me,” she admitted, and laughed with a ring of scorn in the mirth. “There is small merit in being generous when it pleases one to be so.”
He stared at her in amazement.
“I think you are strangely wanting in gratitude,” he said. “Few people with the very sufficient grounds which you have for recognising a man’s generosity would display so grudging an acknowledgment. Morgan was most appreciative in his praise of you. He revealed a very deep—regard for you.”
William surveyed his half-sister with the doubtful scrutiny of a man who failed to discover what it was in her which attracted other men: beyond her looks he could discern no particular charm; and her looks were not in his opinion remarkable.
“I have heard more impassioned avowals,” she returned.