Beyond the Rocks

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.