But Jean, having drifted away from them, came back with, "I am going to
church with him tomorrow."

"Him? Whom?"

"Derry Drake, Daddy, and may I bring him home to dinner?"

"Do you think a man like that goes begging for invitations? He has
probably been asked to a dozen places to eat his turkey."

"He can't eat it at a dozen places, Daddy. And anyhow I should like to
ask him. I--I think he is lonely--"

"A man with millions is never lonely."

She did not attempt to argue. She felt that her father could not
possibly grasp the truth about Derry Drake. Her own understanding of
his need had been a blinding, whirling revelation. He had said, "I
wanted some one--who cared--." Not for a moment since then had the
world been real to her. She had seemed in the center of a
golden-lighted sphere, where Derry's voice spoke to her, where Derry's
smile warmed her, where Derry, a silver-crested knight, knelt at her
feet.

Julia came in to say that Miss Jean was wanted at the telephone.

Miraculously Derry's voice came over the wire. Was she going to the
dance at the Willard? The one for the benefit of the Eye and Ear
Hospital? The President and his wife would be there--the only ball