here was interested curiosity in Vanderpoel's steady look at her. There
were times when he felt that Betty's summing up of things was well worth
listening to. He saw that now she was in one of her moods when it would
pay one to hear her out. She held her chin up a little, and her face
took on a fine stillness at once sweet and unrelenting. She was very
good to look at in such moments.

"Yes," he answered, "you have a particularly level head for a girl."

"Well," she went on. "What I see is that these things are not business,
and they ought to be. If a man comes to a rich American girl and says,
'I and my title are for sale. Will you buy us?' If the girl is--is that
kind of a girl and wants that kind of man, she can look them both over
and say, 'Yes, I will buy you,' and it can be arranged. He will not
return the money if he is unsatisfactory, but she cannot complain that
she has been deceived. She can only complain of that when he pretends
that he asks her to marry him because he wants her for his wife, because
he would want her for his wife if she were as poor as himself. Let it
be understood that he is property for sale, let her make sure that he is
the kind of property she wants to buy. Then, if, when they are married,
he is brutal or impudent, or his people are brutal or impudent, she can
say, 'I will forfeit the purchase money, but I will not forfeit myself.
I will not stay with you.'"

"They would not like to hear you say that, Betty," said her father,
rubbing his chin reflectively.

"No," she answered. "Neither the girl nor the man would like it, and it
is their business, not mine. But it is practical and would prevent silly
mistakes. It would prevent the girls being laughed at. It is when they
are flattered by the choice made of them that they are laughed at. No
one can sneer at a man or woman for buying what they think they want,
and throwing it aside if it turns out a bad bargain."

She had seated herself near her father. She rested her elbow slightly
on the table and her chin in the hollow of her hand. She was a beautiful
young creature. She had a soft curving mouth, and a soft curving cheek
which was warm rose. Taken in conjunction with those young charms, her
next words had an air of incongruity.

"You think I am hard," she said. "When I think of these things I
am hard--as hard as nails. That is an Americanism, but it is a good
expression. I am angry for America. If we are sordid and undignified,
let