Page:The Father Confessor, Stories of Danger and Death.djvu/157

Rh always forgot me the moment I was out of sight."

The man apologized.

"I will forget the slight," the young man said, smiling, "if you will induce your daughter not to follow your example. But, oh, sir," he added seriously, "I love her dearly, and I beg you to speak to her in my favour."

"Angela will have money whether she marries or not," the father said, as though thinking aloud. "Only a little, but enough to keep her in comfort. It took me five long years to make it, but at last I have done it, thank God!"

The youth said eagerly: "I do not care for that. I have plenty for both. Only tell her to be kind to me."

The older man looked at him. "She is but a little girl," he said, "not old enough."

"She is seventeen," the young man argued, "and we can wait a couple of years, if you wish."

"Seventeen!" The father looked into the garden, where his daughter walked. "Angela, come here," he called.

She came through the open window to his