"I do," he answered, half seriously; half in jest.
"Then eliminate him, and his dupes, at once," she answered, with great seriousness.
"It is hard for me to do that of my own volition," he replied. "He is so fortified with friends on the board of directorate that they must all be taken into consideration."
"Will they not see the necessity of his removal, when apprised of the facts?" she asked.
"They may; but he is so strongly entrenched that his removal would be almost disastrous to me."
"How, papa? How?" she asked, now quickly perceiving a new gleam of the entangling meshes of business associates.
"By turning them against me, if the story should turn out to be false," he answered, reflectively. "But I shall lay it before them at once and investigate."
"In the event that you should remove him, would you bring Mr. Winthrope to your office?" asked Edith, and a tiny flush suffused her cheeks.
"No; Mr. Winthrope must remain in New York," unthinking of the effect his answer might have on his daughter.
Edith turned a little pale at this response, and her hand trembled in his.