‘You won’t take it ill if I ask whether—in fact, whether you’ve ever asked her—you know what I mean.’
‘I have not,’ Sidney replied, in a clear, unmoved tone, changing his position at the same time so as to look his interlocutor in the face.
Joseph seemed relieved.
‘Still,’ he continued, ‘you’ve given her to understand—eh? I suppose there’s no secret about that?’
‘I’ve often spoken to her very intimately, but I have used no words such as you are thinking of. It’s quite true that my way of behaving has meant more than ordinary friendship.’
‘Yes, yes; you’re not offended at me bringing this subject up, old man? You see, I’m her father, after all, and I think we ought to understand each other.’
‘You are quite right.’
‘Well, now, see.’ He fidgeted a little. ‘Has my father ever told you that his friend the lawyer, Percival, altogether went against that way of bringing-up Jane?’
‘Yes, I know that.’
‘You do?’ Joseph paused before proceeding. ‘To tell you the truth, I don’t much care about Percival. I had a talk with him, you know, when my business was being settled. No, I don’t quite take to him, so to say. Now, you won’t be offended? The fact of the matter is, he asked some rather queer questions about you—or, at all events, if they weren’t exactly questions, they—they came to the same thing.’