"What did Bailey tell you, father?"

"That you fancied yourself in love with some actor or artist or other
whose name I have forgotten."

"It is not fancy. I do love him."

"Yes?"

There was a pause.

"Are you very angry, father?"

"Why should I be? Let's talk it over quietly. There's no need to make a
tragedy of it."

"I'm glad you feel like that, father."

John Bannister lit another cigar.

"Tell me all about it," he said.

Ruth found herself surprisingly near tears. She had come into the room
with every nerve in her body braced for a supreme struggle. Her
father's unexpected gentleness weakened her, exactly as he had
foreseen. The plan of action which he had determined upon was that of
the wrestler who yields instead of resisting, in order to throw an
antagonist off his balance.