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It ain't no thin' to do with Holy Hannah, is it?" he asked suspiciously. "Ought to be like other females—readin' novels and that fellow Byron."
    Elise Rand looked up guiltily. Her father stood in the doorway, a nearly empty glass in his hand. One glance at his florid color told her that he'd alreatly imbibed more than he ought.
    "But you don't like Byron," she reminded him mildly.
    "Don't like his politics, that's all."
    "You called him a faithless libertine, I believe," she added, smiling.
    "So what's that?" he demanded abruptly.
    She sighed. "I am caught out, I'm afraid. It is The Christian Observer"
    "Methodist pap!" he snorted.
    "Not entirely," she responded mildly. "Mr. Wilberforce not only has supported the abolition of slavery, but he has also wished for the emancipation of Catholics."
    "And Catholics is Papist fools! As for Wilberforce, he ought to keep his Methodism out of Parliament! He's naught but an infernal meddler, I tell you! Next thing he'll be wanting is women in politics!
    "They are alreatly there, Papa."
    "You know my meaning, Puss—no need to be roundabout with me! I was meaning the next thing you know he'll be wanting 'em to vote!"
    "Is that such a bad notion, Papa?" she asked, feigning innocence.
    "Eve was made to serve Adam!"
    It was no use provoking further argument with him, and she knew it. He had little use for any sort of reform at all. "I am only reading what the man has to say, Papa."
    "Aye, and afore long you'll be wantin' to go to the demned meetings, won't you?"
    "I have alreatly heard Mrs. More and Mr. Wilberforce speak, and while I tend to agree with them, I am well aware you would threaten to disown me if I actually joined them. And," she added impishly, "I have not heard either of them suggest that females ought to vote—-though I cannot think it would not be a good notion."
    "What? Now you see here, missy! You'll not—" He caught himself and peered suspiciously at her. "Humph! Well, I collect you was running with your papa, wasn't you?''
    "Yes."
    Somewhat mollified, he muttered, "Well, you ain't going to any demned meetings, gel—see as you don't forget that." He drank from his glass, then regarded her almost soberly for a long moment. "What was you thinking of today, anyway?"
    She knew he meant the scene in the Sessions House courtroom, but decided to feign ignorance. "Today?"
    "Sly puss, ain't you?" He walked closer, until he stood over her. "You ain't got no business with the Coates woman."
    "But did you not see the condition of Pearl—of the thin girl with her? Papa, I think she has consumption!"
    "It ain't none of your affair, Puss."
    "But that woman will not seek medical attention for her," she argued. "It doesn't mean anything to Mrs. Coates if Pearl should die—no doubt she will merely go to the poorhouses and buy another girl to sell for a few shillings to the tumble."
    "Puss!" he remonstrated sharply. "You ain't supposed to say that sort of thing! And where in the deuce did you meet that sort of female?"
    "What difference does it make?" she countered, un-
    repentant. "And I've heard you say something very like that."
    "I want you to talk like a latly, that's the difference—and don't you be forgetting it. Now—where did you meet the tart? I ain't asking but once!"
    Her chin came up and her bright blue eyes met his. "I was handing out leaflets in Covent Garden, if you must know." As his color darkened ominously, she decided to appeal to his conscience. "Papa, she buys those girls! It is as though they are slaves!"
    "Shows what you know of it!" he snorted. "If they wasn't there, they'd not eat, Elise. You think they'd be better begging in the opium dens?"
    "Surely you do not condone the practice of—of selling female flesh to—to the worst of men!" she sputtered.
    "Course I don't condone it! Now, damme, you are putting words in m'mouth! But there's been bits of fluff since the Garden of Eden!"
    "Where? 'Twas only Adam and Eve then, Papa."
    When it came to matters of