have been fair game. But you had paid your way in honestly. Now, what did you do to Kitty Conover last night that decided her to accept that fool proposition? She sent her acceptance after she left you."
"I did not know that. I played for her. She became music-struck, and I took advantage of it—kissed her. Then she told me she was going to marry you."
"And that is why you asked me if I would trust you with a daughter of mine?"
"Yes."
"Conscience. That explains this will."
"No. Why did you accept my suggestion to marry her?"
"To make her comfortable without sidestepping the rules of convention."
"No. Because you love her—the way I do."
Cutty's pipe slipped from his teeth. It did not often do that. He stamped out the embers and laid the pipe on the tray.
"What makes you think I love her?"
"What makes me tell you that I do?"
"Yes, death may be at the end of to-night's work; so I'll admit that I love her. She is like a forest stream, wild at certain turns, but always sweet and clear. I'm an old fool, old enough to be her father. I loved her mother. Can a man love two women with all his heart, one years after the other?"
"It is the avatar; she is the reincarnation of the
