sprightliness one would not have expected from his years, sprang to the
door and looked at her with alarm.

'Edith, my child, you never talked to me like this before in your life.
What is wrong with you?'

'Nothing, father, except that I want a cheque for thirty thousand pounds,
and want it now.'

'And do you mean to say that you will leave me if I do not give it to
you?'

'Have you ever broken your word, father?'

'Never, my child, that I know of.'

'Then remember I am your daughter. I have said, if I do not get that
money now, I shall never enter our house again.'

'But thirty thousand pounds is a tremendous amount. Remember, I have
given _my_ word, too, that I would not give you the money unless you told
me what it was for.'

'Very well, father, I will tell what it is for when you ask me. I would
advise you, though, not to ask me; and I would advise you to give me the
money. It will all be returned to you if you want it.

'Oh, I don't care about the money at all, Edith. I merely, of course,
don't want to see it wasted.'