Then she said, simply:
"I came to talk to you about—George's daughters, Tom."
There was a short silence.
"It's not like you, Elizabeth, to—to touch upon a matter so very delicate," remarked Mr. Prescott, quietly, his lips tightening slightly. "Of course I can understand how my attitude in regard to them must appear to you, but I fancied that there existed between you and me a silent agreement that this was one subject which was never to be mentioned."
"My dear Tom, you know that under ordinary circumstances I am not an interfering woman; therefore you must realize that I should never have spoken of this to you without the best of reasons for doing so. But I feel that you are allowing certain principles, excellent no doubt in themselves, but wrong in your particular application to them, to thwart your own happiness; to say nothing of depriving others of the advantages which it is in your power to bestow." Miss Bancroft was very serious now. As she spoke she leaned over and laid her fat little hand earnestly on the old man's shabby sleeve. He said nothing, and she continued:
"There are two young girls, charming—beautiful, indeed—the daughters of a man you loved far more even than most fathers love their first-born sons——"
"Don't!" exclaimed Mr. Prescott, sharply, almost fiercely. "Don't speak to me of that, Elizabeth. Can't you realize that just to mention my—George recalls all my old rancor against that little, heartless spendthrift who ruined him—killed him——" his voice rose hoarsely, then making an effort to control himself, he went on in a quieter tone:
"It's very difficult for me to discuss this with you, Elizabeth."
"I'm sorry, Tom. But you have no right to—it's a matter of your own happiness as much as theirs—and I would be no friend of yours if I were not willing and anxious to risk your anger for the sake of righting this mistake you are making."
"My nieces are not in want. And familiarity with a certain degree of poverty is the source of a wisdom that safeguards men and women from follies that lead to many of the greatest miseries on earth."