When he was finished eating he attempted to slide out of the room, but Pen was on the watch for that.
"One moment, father."
"Another time, my dear. I must get this down on paper before it escapes me."
Pen put herself determinedly between him and the door. "Sorry," she said. "But I have some rights as well as your ideas."
"Only an ignorant person sneers at ideas," he said loftily.
Pen refused to be drawn aside. She began mildly: "Now that this business is over, I hope there's no objection to my going away for a little while."
His eyes narrowed and hardened as a weak and stubborn man's must. "Why should you go away now?" he demanded. "The trouble is over. This is the best place to rest."
"Just the same I must go," said Pen. "Will you give me the money?"
"I'll take you for a visit to Cousin Laura Lee at Frederick," he said. "The trip will do us both good."
"I must have more of a change than that," said Pen patiently. "I need six hundred dollars."