'Humph! Whom should I talk to?'
'Me, papa, for want of somebody else.'
This suggestion fell dead. The colonel took his toast and tried the salad.
'Is it good, papa?' Esther asked, in despair at the silence.
'Yes, my dear, it is good. Vegetable salads are a little cold at this time of year.'
'Papa, we were driven to it. Barker had not money enough this week to get you a partridge. And she says it has happened several times lately that you have forgotten to give her the usual amount for the week's housekeeping.'
'Then she says wrong.'
'She told me, several times she has not had enough, sir.'
'In that she may be right.'
Esther paused, questioning what this might mean. She must know.