"She sure-gawd is! But how can it last? She's restless and discontented and Inez is brilliant, feeds Judith's mind."
"Has her mother any influence over her?"
"None at all."
"How about her father?" asked the preacher.
"Of course, he's only her foster-father. She likes him and she hates him.
He certainly couldn't help her."
"And you are sure there is no hope in Judith's mother?"
"O she's just broken, like a patient fool horse. Good as gold, you know, but with about as much influence over Jude as a kitten. Judith hasn't any one to tie to, not any one. Peter is all right but he jaws too much. She hasn't any one."
"Doesn't she care for you?"
"She says she's fond of me. Fond of me! I'd rather she hated me. I'd as soon have a dish of cold mush from a woman like Jude, as fondness."
"And do you think I could influence Judith?"