decrepitude, as though it had been no more than an
affectation, he shot bolt upright, gripping the arms of his chair. "Last
night, within a handful of hours of my forbidding him the house, he had
the impertinence to call here to inform me that he was in love with
Terry. Not content with that, he added insult to his impertinence by
telling me that he had been your valet. How is it, Taborley, that on
that evening when you dined here as his fellow-guest, you never once
hinted by look or word that he wasn't the part he was playing? I can't
consider that very honorable of you. As an old friend, quite apart from
any new relationship, I had the right to expect that my interests were
nearer to your heart. It upsets me to find I was mistaken. Have you so
little pride in the girl you propose to marry that it doesn't offend you
to see her gadding about with ex-servants? You saw them get up and leave
the table that night. You heard the front-door bang and knew that they'd
gone out together--my daughter with the fellow who used to put the studs
into your shirts! And there you sat with me, sipping your coffee and
chatting as though it were all perfectly right and normal. Upon my soul,
Taborley, you're beyond my comprehending. If I, her father, can feel
this indignation, what ought not you to feel? You're supposed to be her
lover and you're not jealous. So far as I can see, you're not even
disturbed."

Tabs' face had gone suddenly white. He acknowledged to himself that, had
he been Terry's father, he would have said no less. When he spoke it was
with quiet intensity.

"I am annoyed, Sir Tobias--a good deal more annoyed than I care to own
to myself; but I try not to let my annoyance obscure my sense of
justice. It isn't fair to consider Braithwaite in the light of a
servant. He isn't a servant; he's won his spurs. He arrived at the
position he occupies to-day through original and unaided merit. That the
man who was my servant, happens to be my rival, is bitterly galling. But
I'm not going to let it blind me to the fact that he has qualities of
greatness. He proved those qualities, even more than on the battlefield,
when he came to you and pluckily told you the truth about himself. God
knows what he thought to gain by it; but I'm hats off to him."

Sir Tobias threw out his hands in a disowning gesture. "I don't want to
quarrel with you--that's the last thing I desire. But I must confess
that I fail to sympathize with your attitude of