"Daisy, come here!" said the Rector.
Daisy approached very timidly, one step at a time. She walked delicately, as Agag of old.
"Daisy, will you explain this to me?"
"Will you listen to me, father?"
"Yes, I am here. I am prepared to listen. But first, I have something to say before you begin your story. I do not wish you or Henrietta ever again to call me father. I am not your father. Your father was a different sort of man. I married your mother, but during her lifetime I never once saw you. You came here, you and Henrietta, and turned this happy home into Bedlam. You shall address me, whenever you have occasion to in the future, as Mister O'Brien. You understand?"
"Ye-es. She said she hated me, and she looked—oh, how she looked!"
"Can you wonder? Aren't you amazed at her forbearance? Do you know that this is laudanum?"
He held up the little bottle.
"I happened to see a bottle of laudanum in my room a few days ago and meant to throw it away. My wife, your poor mother, often suffered from rheumatic pains and she used to like to rub the affected parts with a strong opiate. I did not approve the plan. Now please tell me how you came by this bottle."