Then, as she recovered from the shock, she felt pitiful, and tried to make excuses for her father. He must have been hard pressed when he yielded to temptation, and his partner had, no doubt, placed it in his way. She was filled with a desire to protect him. He must be saved from the evil influence that had led him into wrong. She remembered that Clay had declared he owed her a debt of gratitude. She would remind him of it. He must release her father from whatever hold he had on him; she had a curious confidence that he would do so if she begged it.
She waited, nerving herself for the effort, until he came downstairs and then she beckoned him into the empty drawing-room.
Clay leaned carelessly on a chair-back, watching her as she stood quietly confronting him. The intentness of her expression and her stillness were significant. She suspected something, and he was sorry for her; if he could remove her suspicions, he would do so.
“Then he won’t be down for some minutes,” she said. “I have something to say—you have been trying to make him go North with you?”
“No; not exactly. I’m not sure I could make him; he’s pretty determined. Don’t you want him to go?”
“No!” she cried. “You mustn’t take him! And in future you must leave him alone. I can’t let you force him to do things he hates!”
“It looks as if you suspected me of leading him astray. Now, in a sense, that’s hardly fair to either of us. Don’t you think your father has a will of his own?”
“I know you have some power over him, and I beg you not to use it.”
“I think you had better sit down while we talk this thing over. To begin with, your father and I are old friends; we have faced hard times together and shared very rough luck. It seems to me that gives us some claim on each other.”
“That is not what I mean,” Ruth said firmly.
Clay was determined to spare her as far as he could.
“Then, if you suspect some other influence, I’d better warn you that you’re too young and inexperienced to form a reliable opinion. You hear something that startles you, and, without understanding it, you make a blind guess. Take it from me that your father is known as one of the straightest business men in this State.” He paused and laughed. “In fact, he’s getting too particular for me. I’m ‘most afraid I’ll have to drop him.”