honesty, she did not distrust his love; but woman could not
live by love alone, and she had her duty as a mother. Dorothy had been
lapped in luxury; it was neither right nor safe that her daughter should
marry downhill. Mrs. Hanway-Harley's voice was smoothly even. Mr. Storms
must forgive a question. Something of the kind had been asked before,
but changes might have intervened. Had Mr. Storms any expectations from
Mr. Gwynn?

"Madam," replied Richard, while a queer smile played about his mouth, a
smile whereof the reason was by no means clear to Mrs. Hanway-Harley,
"madam, I shall be wholly honest. Living or dead, gift or will, I shall
never have a shilling from Mr. Gwynn."

"Then, Mr. Storms," returned Mrs. Hanway-Harley, "I ask you whether I
would be justified in wedding my daughter to poverty?"

"But is money, that is, much money, so important?" pleaded Richard. "I
have education, health, brains--in moderation--and love to prompt all
three. That should not mean beggary, even though it may not mean
prodigious wealth."

"Every lover has talked the same," said Mrs. Hanway-Harley, not
unkindly. "Believe me, Mr. Storms: no man should ask a woman in marriage
unless he can care for her as she was cared for in her father's house."

"But the father's fortune is not sure," remonstrated Richard. "The
father's riches, or the lover's poverty, may vanish in a night."

"We must deal with the present," said Mrs. Hanway-Harley.

Richard pondered the several perplexities of the case.

"If I had a fortune equal to Mr. Harley's, you would not object, madam?"

"It is the only bar I urge," said Mrs. Hanway-Harley suavely.

"Then I am to understand that, should a day come when I can measure
wealth with Mr. Harley, I may claim Dorothy as my own?"

Mrs. Hanway-Harley bowed.

"My daughter, however, must not be bound by any promise."

"Your daughter, madam," returned Richard, with a color of pride, "shall
never be bound by me. Though I held a score of promises, I would have no
wife who did not come to me of her free choice. I do not look on love as
a business proposition."

"Older people do," responded Mrs. Hanway-Harley dryly.

"Madam," said Richard, "I have only one more question to ask. What is to
be my attitude towards your daughter, while I am searching for that
fortune?"

It was here that Mrs. Hanway-Harley made her greatest stroke; she
reached Richard where he had no defense.

"Your attitude, Mr. Storms, towards my