pects
of one's mother," he added bluntly.

"It is not nice of you to say that, Donald. How do you know that Mr.
Daney did not send for me?"

He smiled tolerantly. "Before Daney would dare do that he would
consult with my father, and if my father had consented to it he would
never have left to Daney the task of requesting such a tremendous
favor of you for his account. If Daney ever consulted my father as to
the advisability of such a course, my father refused to consider it."

"What makes you think so, old smarty?"

"Well, I know my father's code. He had no hesitancy in permitting you
to know that you were not welcome as a prospective daughter-in-law,
although he was not so rude as to tell you why. He left that to your
imagination. Now, for my father to ask a favor of anybody is very
unusual. He has a motto that a favor accepted is a debt incurred, and
he dislikes those perennial debts. My father is a trader, my dear. If
he had, directly or indirectly, been responsible for your return to
Port Agnew for the purpose of saving his son's life, he would not
be--well, he just wouldn't do it," he explained with some
embarrassment. "He couldn't do it. He would say to you, 'My son is
dying because he finds life uninteresting without you. If you return,
your presence will stimulate in him a renewed interest in life and he
will, in all probability, survive. If you are good enough to save my
son from death you are good enough to share his life, and although
this wedding is about going to kill me, nevertheless we will pull it
off and make believe we like it.'"

"Nonsense," she retorted.

"Knowing how my father would act under such circumstances, I was
dumfounded when he informed me this afternoon that you had agreed to
perform under false pretenses. He was quite certain you would proceed
to jilt me, now that I am strong enough to stand it. He said you had
promised him you would."

"I did not promise him. I merely told him truthfully what my firm
intention was at the time he demanded to be informed as to the nature
of my intentions. I reserved my woman's right to change my mind."

"Oh!"

"Had I made your father a definite promise I would have kept it. If I
were a party to such a contract with your father, Donald dear, all of
your pleading to induce me to break it would be in vain."

"A contract without a consideration is void in law," he reminded her.
"Dad just figured he could bank on your love for me. He did you the
h