“Yes, father; twice.”
“I don’t want you to answer, my dear, unless you care to do so. Where did you meet him?”
“I will tell you everything; I was willing to tell you any time——if you had asked me. I didn’t speak of him to you because——I didn’t like to.”
“Of course, girlie. I understand. You needn’t speak now, if you would rather not.”
“I should like you to know. The first time was at Eastbourne, shortly after I went there. He managed to get unseen into the school garden, and he told me that——he said he hoped——we would be married some day. I told him it was impossible. I thought so——then.”
“That was two years ago?”
“Yes.”
The ghost of a smile hovered about the firm lips of Sartwell; but the corners of Edna’s mouth drooped pathetically, and she seemed on the verge of tears. She kept her eyes on the floor of the carriage.
“There was not much use of an angry father’s precautions, was there, Edna?”
“I did not know, until he spoke, that you objected to my meeting him. If you had told me, I would not have spoken to him at Eastbourne.”