"Child, you are a Jewess; Dr. Kemp is a Christian."

And still his daughter smiled trustingly.

"What difference can that make, since we love each other?" she asked.

"Will you believe me, Ruth, when I say that all I desire is your
happiness?"

"Father, I know it."

"Then I tell you I can never bring myself to approve of a marriage between
you and a Christian. There can be no true happiness in such a union."

"Why not? Inasmuch as all my life you have taught me to look upon my
Christian friends as upon my Jewish, and since you admit him irreproachable
from every standpoint, why can he not be my husband?"

"Have you ever thought of what such a marriage entails?"

"Never."

"Then do so now: think of every sacrifice, social and religious, it
enforces; think of the great difference between the Jewish race and the
Christians; and if, after you have measured with the deadliest earnestness
every duty that married life brings, you can still believe that you will be
happy, then marry him."

"With your blessing?" Her lovely, pleading eyes still held his.