"I don't know," she replied quickly. "I’ll find something."
"It's not as easy as that. You're not trained for anything." He looked down at his hands. "I've even spoiled your chances for a good marriage."
She laughed.
"I wasn't thinking of getting married.
All the young men in Boston are just that – young men. They seem like boys to me; I haven't the patience for them.
When I get married, it will be to a mature man, like you."
"What you need is a vacation," he said. "You look tired and drawn."
"We'll both take a vacation when you come home," she said. "We'll go to Europe.
I know a place on the Riviera where we could live a whole year on less than two thousand dollars."
"That's still a long way off," he said. "You need a vacation now."
"What are you getting at, Father?" she asked.
"I wrote to my cousin Foster," he said.
"He and his wife, Betty, want you to come out and stay with them.
They say it's beautiful out there and you could stay with them until I could come out to join you."
"But then I wouldn't be able to visit you," she said quickly, reaching for his hands in the narrow space beneath the bars.
He pressed her fingers.
"It will be better that way.
Both of us will have less painful things to remember."
"But, Father- " she began to protest.
The guard started over and her father got to his feet.
"I’ve already given Stan White instructions," he said. "Now, you do as I say and go out there."
He turned away and she watched him walk off through eyes that were beginning to mist over with tears.
She didn't see him again until many months later, when she was on her way to Europe again on her honeymoon.
She brought her husband out to the prison.
"Father," she said, almost shyly, "this is Jonas Cord."
What Harrison Marlowe saw was a man his own age, perhaps even older, but with a height and youthful vitality that seemed characteristic of the Westerner.
"Is there anything we can get you, Father?" she asked.
"Anything we can do at all, Mr. Marlowe?" Jonas Cord added.
"No. No, thank you."
Cord looked at him and Harrison Marlowe caught a glimpse of deep-set, penetrating blue eyes.
"My business is expanding, Mr. Marlowe," he said. "Before you make any plans after leaving here, I'd appreciate your speaking with me.
I need a man with just your experience to help me in refinancing my expansion."
"You're very kind, Mr. Cord."
Jonas Cord turned to Rina.
"If you'll excuse me," he said, "I know you want some time alone with your father.
I'll be waiting outside."
Rina nodded and the two men said good-by.
For a short time, father and daughter looked at each other, then Rina spoke.
"What do you think of him, Father?"
"Why, he's as old as I am!"
Rina smiled.
"I told you I'd marry a mature man, Father.
I never could stand boys."
"But- but- " her father stammered. "You're a young woman. You have your whole life ahead of you.
Why did you marry him?"
Rina smiled gently. "He's an extremely wealthy man, Father," she said softly. "And very lonely."
"You mean you married him for that?" Then suddenly he understood the reason for her husband's offer. "Or so he could take care of me?" he asked.
"No, Father," she said quickly. "That isn't why I married him at all."
"Then why?" he asked.
"Why?"