"Were you going without seeing me?"
"I had feared I would be obliged to," he returned, gallantly. "I was
calling upon my future daughter-in-law," he added, in a low tone, as
they went out on the veranda.
Madame sighed and sank gratefully into the chair he offered her. In the
broad light of day, she looked old and worn.
"Well," continued the Colonel, with an effort to speak cheerfully, "the
blow has fallen."
"So I hear," she rejoined, almost in a whisper. "What tremendous
readjustments the heedless young may cause!"
"Yes, but we mustn't deny them the right. The eternal sacrifice of youth
to age is one of the most pitiful things in nature--human nature, that
is. The animals know better."
"Would you remove all opportunity for the development of character?" she
inquired, with a tinge of sarcasm.
"No, but I wouldn't deliberately furnish it. The world supplies it
generously enough, I think. Allison didn't ask to be born," he went on,
with a change of tone, "and those who brought him into the world are
infinitely more responsible to him than he is to them."
"One-sided," returned Madame, abruptly.
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