“Mrs. Benjamin, I have to be punished,” she said.
“Hast thou, Isabelle?”
“I want the girls to pronounce my sentence.”
Mr. Benjamin smiled at his wife.
“I hope thy friends will temper justice with mercy, Isabelle,” he remarked with the wrinkly smile threatening. “What is thy crime?”
“It’s about my father,” began the culprit.
“Yes, what about thy father?”
The girls eyed her hostilely, where she stood, by the fireplace, dominating the scene.
“I’ve always loved beautiful people so . . .” she began intensely.
“That is no sin,” encouraged Mrs. Benjamin.