it?"

"Now see here, George. None of that. You forget it. I'm sorry I ever
thought or said such stuff. You get it through your head just what this
is--plain adoration."

He sprang to his feet in an emotional outburst that made George writhe.

"I don't see why God has been so good to me."

XIII

George escaped and hurried upstairs. Lambert was there, but he didn't
mention the announcement, and George couldn't very well lead him. No one
who did talk of it in his presence, however, shared his bitter
disapproval. Most men dwelt as Wandel did on the material values of such
a match, which, far from diminishing Sylvia's brilliancy, would make it
burn brighter than ever.

Occasionally he saw Sylvia and Blodgett together. For him she had that
air of seeking an unreal pleasure, but she was always considerate of
Blodgett, who seemed perpetually on the point of clasping her publicly
in his arms. A recurrent contact was impossible for George. He went to
Blodgett finally, and over his spirited resistance broke the last tie.

"My remaining on your pay-roll," he complained, "is pure charity. I
don't want it. I won't have it. God knows I'm grateful for all you've
done for me. It's been a lot."

"Never forget you've done something for Blodgett," the stout man said,
warmly. "There's no question but you've earned every penny you've had
from me. We've played and worked together a long time, George. I don't
see just because you've grown up too fast why you've got to make Papa
Blodgett unhappy."

George had no answer, but he didn't have to see much of the beaming beau
after that, nor for a long time did he encounter Sylvia at all
intimately. Lambert, himself, unwittingly brought them together in the
spring.

"Why not run down to Oakmont with me?" he said, casually, one Friday
morning. "Father's always asking why you're never around."

"Your father might be pleased to know why," George said.

"Dark ages!" Lambert said. "We're in the present now. Come ahead."

The invitation to enter the gates! But it brought to George none of the
glowing triumph he had anticipated. He knew why Lambert had offered it,
because he considered Sylvia removed from any possible unpleasant
aftermath of the dark ages. The man Morton didn't need any further
chastisement; but he went, because he knew what Lambert didn't, that the
man Morton wasn't through with Sylvia yet; that he was going to find out
why she had chosen Blodgett when, except on the sco