n to
suit her requirements, has guarded her health and safety ever since."

"So that he can use my money," added Alora, with a shrug.

"But you admit that he doesn't squander money on himself."

"I don't know what he does with it. If he wants books, he buys them; he
bought a rickety automobile in Italy and never took me to ride in it;
but his extravagance seems to end there. I've read some letters that he
left around, showing that he is investing thousands in his own name--
what for, I can't guess, as he is too miserly ever to have a use for
it."

"Well, he may be intending to endow some deserving charity," suggested
Irene. "And, as for his not loving you, Alora, I fancy you have never
tried to win your father's love."

"No one could love that man."

"You have never been able to get beneath his reserve. You came to him
from a luxurious life, a petted and pampered child, and his simple
tastes and unemotional nature repelled you from the first. Is it not
so?"

"I'm not sure, Irene. I needed sympathy and affection. Had my father
been different, had he shown love for me, or even fatherly
consideration, I would have responded eagerly. But he ignored me. There
has never been any companionship between us. He has guarded my personal
safety because I was of financial value to him. Once, when I contracted
a fever, he was really worried, and hired a skillful doctor and a
trained nurse; but he never entered my sickroom. When I was well, he
reproached me for costing him so much money. I told him it was my
money, and he was costing me more than I could ever cost him. I
reminded him he would have been a beggar, but for my income, and that
shut him up at once."

"There's the whole trouble," declared Irene. "Constant friction and a
lack of consideration for one another. Such remarks could not have made
him more gracious toward you, Alora, and you did not appreciate his
care in furnishing you with the means of recovery."

"Had I died," said the girl, "my fortune would have gone to a bunch of
third-cousins whom I have never seen. That would have stopped father's
right to the income, you see."

Irene sighed and Mary Louise smiled. It was almost impossible to defend
Mr. Jones consistently, with Alora present to accuse him.

The artist at first took little interest in his new home. The cottage
was small and not very cheerful, but it was cheap, and all that Jason
Jones seemed to care for was a place to stay that was not expensiv