There remains the question is he willing ?" Nellie Townshead still busied herself at the stove.

"I think he is," she said.
Townshead straightened himself a trifle in his chair.

"Then, I am curious to know why he should be," he said.
"I do not know," said the girl, who rose and took up the supper dishes.
"Still, I feel sure that he is." Townshead turned towards her.

"You fancied so a moment or two ago, and now you are sure," he said.

"There must be some meaning to this." His daughter looked round and laughed a little, holding the tray at a perilous slope.