“Has it?” he cried eagerly, but with a rough kind of respect mingled with his admiration. “So it has me. I mean it—that I do. You shall never see me the worse for drink again.”
“And you will attend more to the business, then?”
“What business?” he said.
“The business that you and my father carry on.”
“The business that I and your father carry on?”
“Yes, the speculations about the seals and the oil.”
Crellock stared at her. “Why, what have you got in your pretty little head?” he said at last.
“I only alluded to the business in which you and my father are partners.”
“Pooh!” cried Crellock, with a sort of laugh. “What nonsense it is of him! Why, my dear, you are not a child now. After all the trouble you and your mother went through. You are a clever, thoughtful little woman, and he ought to have taken you into his confidence.”
“What do you mean?” cried Julia, for she felt dazed.