"I want a great deal, father. Wait, please, till I get my chop; for I cannot talk to you till I do."
"'Ill talking between a full man and a fasting,' eh? Well, here's your breakfast."
It was only the bespoken cup and plate, however, and Mr. Copley had to wait longer. It came at last, the chop; and till it came Dolly said no more. Her father watched her, and watched her, and could not take his eyes off her. The flush on her cheek and the sparkle in her eye, the moisture still lingering on her eyelashes, how sweet she was! and how indefinably lovely! Dolly had grown into a woman; she had the presence and poise that belong to a high-bred woman; and yet she had not lost her girlhood nor grown out of its artless graces; and as Mr. Copley looked he saw now and then a very childlike trembling of the under lip. It troubled his heart. He had been very uncomfortable ever since his meeting with his daughter; the discomfort began now to develope into the stings and throes of positive pain. What was she there for? whence had come that agony of tears? and why when those tears were pouring from her eyes did her soft arm clasp him so? did she want help from him? or for him? Mr. Copley grew extremely uneasy; restless and fidgeting. Dolly ate her chop and her potatoe, needing it, I fancy; and perhaps she wanted to gain time too. Mr. Copley had no appetite. He had none to begin with, and certainly Dolly's appearance had not given him what he had not before.
"You don't make much of a breakfast, father," Dolly observed.
"Never do," he returned. "No time to eat, when a man has just got up. A cup of coffee is the only thing. The French way is the best."
"You did not use to be up so late, in the old days."
"Don't think it's the best time either; but—you must do as the rest of the world do; swim with the—what is it?—swim with the current."
"How if the current goes the wrong way?"
"Can't help yourself; you must go along, if you are in it."
Dolly was silent, finishing her luncheon. She ate fast and hurriedly. Then she pushed her chair away and came round and sat upon her father's knee; laying one arm round his neck and looking into his face.