s. Then, at length, very slowly.
"Maybe--after all--I don't need to see, my lord," he said. "Maybe--I've
made a mistake."

He spoke with the utmost quietness, but his manner had undergone a
change. It held a hint of deference. He made no move to touch the
envelope upon the table.

Saltash's brows went up. "Satisfied?" he questioned curtly.

"On that point, yes." Jake continued to look at him with a close and
searching regard.

"Not on all points?" Saltash flicked the ash from his cigarette with a
movement of exasperation.

Jake turned and slowly walked to the window. There fell a silence between
them. He stood staring down upon the scene that Toby had gazed upon a
little earlier, but he saw nothing of it. The hardness had gone out of
his face, and a deep compassion had taken its place.

Saltash continued to smoke for several restless seconds. Finally, he
dropped the end of his cigarette into a tray and spoke.

"Anything more I can do for you?"

Jake wheeled in his massive way, and came back. "Say!" he said slowly.
"I'm kind of sorry for that little girl."

Saltash made an abrupt movement that passed unexplained. "Well?" he said.

Jake faced him squarely. "If I'd been at home," he said, "this would
never have happened. Or if it had happened--if it had happened--" He
paused.

"You'd have made a point of coming to the wedding?" suggested Saltash.

Jake passed the suggestion by. "I'd have known how to deal with it,
anyway. Now, it seems, it's too late."

Saltash took up the envelope from the table, and returned it to his
pocket. "I believe you'd have been better pleased if I hadn't married
her," he observed.

Jake shook his head. "I'd be better pleased--maybe--if I knew for certain
what you did it for."

"My good Jake. I don't go in for aims and motives," protested Saltash.
"Call it a marriage of convenience if you feel that way! It's all the
same to me."

Jake's brows contracted. "I'd give a good deal not to call it that," he
said.

Saltash laughed. "Call it what you like--a whim--a fancy--the craze of
the moment! You needn't waste any sentiment over it. I'm sorry about
Bunny, but, if he hadn't been an ass, it wouldn't have happened. You
can't blame me for that anyhow. You did the same thing yourself."

"I!" The red-brown eyes suddenly shone. "I don't follow you," said Jake
deliberately.

"You married your wife to deliver her from--a fate you deemed
unsuitable." Saltash's teeth showed for a moment