o is also an old friend, and lay the matter
before him. Privately you will be drummed out of society and my daughter
will be none the worse for it. She is so very young that when the facts
are known, you are the only one who will bear the odium of this. Your
wife has given me your wretched record only yesterday. You would like to
make my Suzanne your fourth or fifth. Well, you will not. I will show
you something you have not previously known. You are dealing with a
desperate mother. Defy me if you dare. I demand that you write your
farewell to Suzanne here and now, and let me take it to her."

Eugene smiled sardonically. Mrs. Dale's reference to Angela made him
bitter. She had been there and Angela had talked of him--his past to
her. What a mean thing to do. After all, Angela was his wife. Only the
morning before, she had been appealing to him on the grounds of love,
and she had not told him of Mrs. Dale's visit. Love! Love! What sort of
love was this? He had done enough for her to make her generous in a
crisis like this, even if she did not want to be.

"Write you a statement of release to Suzanne?" he observed, his lips
curling--"how silly. Of course, I won't. And as for your threat to run
to Mr. Colfax, I have heard that before from Mrs. Witla. There is the
door. His office is twelve flights down. I'll call a boy, if you wish.
You tell it to Mr. Colfax and see how much farther it goes before you
are much older. Run to Mr. Winfield also. A lot I care about him or
Mr. Colfax. If you want a grand, interesting discussion of this thing,
just begin. It will go far and wide, I assure you. I love your daughter.
I'm desperate about her. I'm literally crazy about her"--he got up--"she
loves me, or I think she does. Anyhow, I'm banking all on that thought.
My life from the point of view of affection has been a failure. I have
never really been in love before, but I am crazy about Suzanne Dale. I
am wild about her. If you had any sympathy for an unhappy, sympathetic,
emotional mortal, who has never yet been satisfied in a woman, you would
give her to me. I love her. I love her. By God!"--he banged the desk
with his fist--"I will do anything for her. If she will come to me,
Colfax can have his position, Winfield can have his Blue Sea
Corporation. You can have her money, if she wants to give it to you. I
can make a living abroad by my art, and I will. Other Americans have
done it before me. I love her! I love her! Do you hear me?