Josiah Brown possessed certainly not less than forty thousand a year,
and so felt he could afford a carriage in Paris, and any other fancy he
pleased. His nerves had been too shaken by his illness to appreciate the
joys of an automobile.
Thus, daily might be seen in the Avenue des Acacias this ill-assorted
pair, seated in a smart victoria with stepping horses, driving slowly up
and down. And a number of people took an interest in them.
Towards the middle of May Captain Fitzgerald arrived at the Continental,
and Theodora felt her heart beat with joy when she saw his handsome,
well-groomed head.
Oh yes, it had been indeed worth while to make papa look so prosperous
as that--so prosperous and happy--dear, gay papa!
He was about the same age as her husband, but no one would think of
taking him for more than forty. And what a figure he had! and what
manners! And when he patted her cheek Theodora felt at once that thrill
of pride and gratification she had always experienced when he was
pleased with her, from her youngest days.
She was almost glad Sarah and Clementine should have remained at Dieppe.
Thus she could have papa all to herself, and oh, what presents she would
send them back by him when he returned!
Josiah Brown despised Dominic Fitzgerald, and yet stood in awe of him as
well. A man who could spend a fortune and be content to live on odds and
ends for the rest of his life must be a poor creature. But, on the other
hand, there was that uncomfortable sense of breeding about him which
once, when Captain Fitzgerald had risen to a situation of dignity during
their preliminary conversations about Theodora's hand, had made Josiah
Brown unconsciously say "Sir" to him.
He had blushed and bitten his tongue for doing it, and had blustered and
patronized immoderately afterwards, but he never forgot the incident.
They were not birds of a feather, and never would be, though the
exquisite manners of Dominic Fitzgerald could carry any situation.
Josiah was not altogether pleased to see his father-in-law. He even
experienced a little jealousy. Theodora's face, which generally wore a
mask of gentle, solicitous meekness for him, suddenly sparkled and
rippled with laughter, as she pinched her papa's ears, and pulled his
mustache, and purred into his neck, with joy at their meeting.
It was that purring sound and those caressing tricks that Josiah Brown
objected to. He had never received any of them himself, and so why
should Dominic Fitzgerald?
Captain Fitzgerald, for his part, was enchanted to clasp his beautiful
daughter once more in his arms; he had always loved Theodora, and when
he saw her so quite too desirable-looking in her exquisite clothes, he
felt a very fine fellow himself, thinking what he had done for her.