19/24 You owe me at least some recognition of that fact." "I never knew my father," I said, "except as the cause of my own miserable upbringing and friendless life." "You never knew him," she answered, "and therefore you believe the worst. He was weak, perhaps, and, exposed to a terrible temptation, he fell! But he was not a bad man. He was never that." "Do you think, Mrs.Smith-Lessing," I said, struggling to keep my voice firm, though I felt myself trembling, "that this is a profitable discussion for either of us ?" "Why not ?" she exclaimed almost fiercely. |