His daughter looked at him inquiringly, but hazarded no remark. She saw by the expression of his face how terribly in earnest he was.
“You, of course, know to whom I refer,” he added, speaking in a low, intense tone, as he bent towards her, gazing still seriously into the sweet, open countenance.
“To Zertho,” she observed mechanically.
“Yes. If you reflect, as I have already reflected times without number during these past few weeks, Liane, you must recognise that your position as the daughter of an almost penniless adventurer, is by no means an enviable one. If anything happened to me you would be left without a friend, and without a penny. Such thoughts are, I admit, not exactly pleasant ones, nevertheless the truth must be faced, at this, the most important crisis of your life. Again, I have nothing to give you, and can hope for nothing. In the days bygone I managed to pick up sufficient to provide us with the comforts and luxuries of life, but now, alas! luck and friends have alike deserted me, and I am left ruined. I—”
“But you are not friendless, dear old dad,” Liane cried suddenly, the light of affection glowing in her beautiful eyes as, with a sudden movement, she sprang across to him, and kneeling beside his chair as she often did, put both her soft, clinging arms about his neck. “I am your friend, as I have always been. I do not want to marry and leave you,” and she burst into tears.
His voice became choked by a sob he vainly strove to keep back. He felt his resolution giving way, and bit his lip.
“If—if you would remain my friend, Liane, you will marry,” he managed to ejaculate at last, although the words seemed to stifle him, and he hated himself for having uttered them.
“No, dad—I will never allow you to live alone.”
“But you must, dearest,” he answered with emphasis, fondly pushing back her dark hair from her brow. “Think what a chance you now have of securing position, wealth and everything which contributes to life’s happiness. Zertho loves you.”
“I know,” she answered, with a touch of ineffable sadness in her voice and raising her tear-stained face to his. “But I am happy as I am, with you.”