“What does he say?” asked Felix.
“Nothing in particular; just that he hears that Rose-Ann is quite happy about her work in California.”
“You didn’t know she’d gone?”
“No—she never tells me anything. Not until a long time after it’s happened.”
“Well, were you surprised?”
Rose-Ann’s father puffed on his cigar. “No—I can’t say that I was surprised exactly. I’ve known her a long time.”
“And I’ve only known her a little more than two years,” said Felix.
“She always was a difficult child to manage,” said Mr. Prentiss. “Not that I was ever any good at managing her. I just let her have her own way.”
“I seem to be pursuing the same tactics,” said Felix grimly.
Rose-Ann’s father rose and walked across the room and back, his thumbs locked behind his back, the cigar still in his mouth.