"Ah, papa, now I have caught you!" cried Miss Cass, clapping her hands. "I know nothing, then, except that you brought him up. But you admit there is something else which has stopped the marriage?"
He saw that he had been over-reached. "I can tell you nothing," he said.
"Very well, papa," she said, turning to go, "I'll write to Neil and ask him to tell me the truth."
"He won't tell you."
"Oh, yes, he will. He loves me, and I can get any thing out of him."
"Girl! Ruth,"--her father seized her arm--"if you can be sensible, do not write to Webster. He has gone out of your life of his own free will."
"I will never--never believe that!" and she flushed angrily. "Do you think I don't know when a man loves me or not? I will see him and learn the truth."
"I forbid it, and Ruth saw that her father was very angry. With the cunning of a woman who is determined to get her way, she suddenly yielded, feeling that she could best gain her ends under the mask of peace.
"Very well, papa," she said, with a few tears; "but it is very hard on me. I love him, and you have sent him away--for no fault of his own, I'm sure."
"He is not in fault--he is unfortunate----"