For a moment she almost abandoned the affair, then rallied: "Would you be willing to advance more, Oh, a great deal more, all of—" Selina nerved herself desperately, cold to her pretty finger-tips with the effort of it, "—yes, a hundred dollars, if you thought good could come to me of it?"
"Willing always, Selina; able is another thing. It is not easy for a father to confess to his daughter that as a business proposition he is a failure."
"Papa!"
"Yes, Selina."
The very necessity to get away from the horribly painful embarrassment of this drove her on. "I have a chance to go away and teach, I can be a help then by earning something worth while. Marcus thinks it wise, Marcus says I ought to go, that I need to develop in self-reliance and——"
"Marcus be—" began Papa and stopped.
The story came forth at this with a rush of detail. "And, Papa, to be a whole, whole winter with Miss 'Hontas, under the same roof, doing the same things! I love her so, Papa, I love her!"
There were further questionings from him and answers from Selina and something in his sensitive face as he watched her while she talked, drove her to seek justification.
"There is so much in the world, isn't there, Papa? And I haven't seen anything of it yet? Not anything!"