Clay smiled at her vehemence.
“It looks as if you suspected me of leading him astray. Now, in a sense, that’s hardly fair to either of us. Don’t you think your father has a will of his own?”
“I know you have some power over him, and I beg you not to use it.”
Clay pulled out a chair.
“I think you had better sit down while we talk this thing over. To begin with, your father and I are old friends; we have faced hard times together and shared very rough luck. It seems to me that gives us some claim on each other.”
“That is not what I mean,” Ruth said firmly.
Clay was determined to spare her as far as he could.
“Then, if you suspect some other influence, I’d better warn you that you’re too young and inexperienced to form a reliable opinion. You hear something that startles you, and, without understanding it, you make a blind guess. Take it from me that your father is known as one of the straightest business men in this State.” He paused and laughed. “In fact, he’s getting too particular for me. I’m ‘most afraid I’ll have to drop him.”
“That is what I want you to do; I mean as a business partner.”
“Then you wouldn’t quite bar me out as a private acquaintance?”