“Daddy!” she cried. “Of course not!”
“And no one else?”
“No one else.”
He grunted comfortably. “I’m glad of that. I haven’t seen anybody good enough for you yet. I’m glad it’s not Van Duyn—or young Sackett. I thought, perhaps, you had,” he finished.
“Why?”
“You’ve been so quiet lately.”
“Have I?” she smiled into the fire. “I didn’t know it.”
“Don’t you let people worry you, and don’t take this society game too seriously. It’s only a game, and a poor one at that. It’s only meant for old fools who want to be young and young fools who want to be old. Those people don’t play it just for the fun of the thing—to them it’s a business, and they work at it harder than a lot of galley-slaves. You’ve got to try it, of course, I believe in trying everything, but don’t you let it get you twisted—the ball-room, with its lights, its flowers and its pretty speeches. They’re all part of the machinery. The fellow you’re going to marry won’t be there, Jane. He’s too busy.”
“Who do you mean?”