the February noon
On the black walnut dressing stand past the window lay a letter he had received from Essie that morning ; it contained her usual appeal for an additional sum of money -- he gave her , formally , six thousand dollars a year ; and the manner of the demand , for the necessities of their daughter , showed his sharpened perceptions that she had never really experienced the blindness of a generous emotion . Eunice , the child , was incontrovertible proof of that -- no more than an additional lever for her to swing . His face darkened , and he moved his shoulder impatiently , as if to throw off a burden grown unendurable . But it was fastened immovably -- his responsibility was as baldly apparent as the February noon , its greyness now blotted by a wind-driven , metallic shift of snow . He had been criminally negligent of Eunice . This realization was accompanied by no corresponding warmth of parenthood ; there was no quickening of blood at the thought of his daughter , but only a newborn condemnation of his neglected , proper pride . He had , thoughtlessly , descended to a singularly low level of conduct .