He ignored it. "It's only an accident that we are poor. Remember your grandfather had his place at Newport when his grandfather was still swinging a pick!"
"That's only an accident, too," said Pen. "You miss the point. The question is not altogether whether he wants me, but whether I want him."
Pendleton refused to take her seriously. "Oh, the fatal Broome pride!" he murmured.
"He's a divorced man," said Pen wickedly. Her father held strong views on the subject.
"We must not judge," said Pendleton blandly. "Circumstances alter cases. He may have been more sinned against than sinning."
Pen smiled wryly. She did not particularly blame her father. It was at poor human nature that she was smiling.
Encouraged by her silence he went on loftily: "Pride is an excellent thing in its way. But it becomes suicidal when you allow it to blind you to..."
Pen bluntly interrupted him. "I wouldn't marry Mr. Riever if he was the last man on earth!"
She saw, however, that Pendleton was entirely unconvinced.
Presently she said: "I suppose it is useless to ask you to return that money?"