Correct Answer - Option 2 : Colonel
The correct answer is Colonel.
Laura Merton is a character in the short story The Model Millionaire by Oscar Wilde.
Let's look at the line from the short story.
- "The girl he loved was Laura Merton, the daughter of a retired Colonel who had lost his temper and his digestion in India, and had never found either of them again."
- From the above line we can infer that Laura Merton's father was a retired Colonel.
Therefore the correct answer is Colonel.