"Father."
"Zoe! Zoe! Have I made it clear to you about him? How good—how kind—how wronged by me?"
"You are always so afraid I won't understand that. Why shouldn't I?"
"Because it is hard, dear, for you to grasp it all—especially its effect upon you. Some day you will understand how gradually I have tried to prepare your mind to judge me. Even this little graduation to-morrow is a milestone and makes me want to talk to you just a wee bit plainer. Zoe, I—Zoe, does—does—"
"What?"
"Does it ever make you unhappy among the other children to be questioned about your—father?"
"No."
"Do you ever feel that you would like to see him?".
"No."
"Why?"