"The one thing, child, I can never do."
"You are a father—a father who loves his own—I've seen and know that. A nameless waif starving for a word of love begs it—just one word of deep, real love—think of it! My heart has never known it in all the years I've lived!"
Norton lifted his hand brusquely:
"You ask the impossible. The conditions under which I am acting as your guardian seal my lips."
The girl looked at him steadily:
"Then, you are my real guardian?"
"Yes."
"And why have you not told me before?"
The question was asked with a firm emphasis that startled him into a sense of renewed danger.