"Why, dad, our employing her puts us at her mercy. Didn't you realize that?"
The elder man sat silent, glaring at his son through his great convex spectacles.
"So that is why this girl wouldn't listen to you?" he said.
"Her reason was that she, being in your employment, occupied a position of trust, and that it would be dishonest in her to take advantage of it by encouraging your only son."
"Did she say that?"
"Almost word for word."
"When?"
"Long ago."
"Oh! So this has been going on a long while?"
"I've bothered her a long while; I've contrived to make her miserable. She does her best to keep away from me. I don't know what to do," said the boy miserably.