business for every one's sake. I don't want to take Davenant's
money. It's about as pleasant for me as swallowing a knife. But I'd
swallow a knife if we could only hush the thing up long enough for you
to be married--and for me to settle some other things. I shouldn't care
what happened after that. They might take me and chuck me into any hole
they pleased."

"But I couldn't be married in that way, papa dear. I couldn't be married
at all to--to one man--when another man had a claim on me."

"Had a claim on you? How do you mean?"

"He'll have that--if he pays for everything--pays for everything for
years and years back. Don't you see?"

"A claim on you for what, pray?"

"That's what I don't know. But whatever it is, I shall feel that I'm in
his debt."

"Nonsense, dear. I call that morbid. It _is_ morbid."

"But don't you think it's what he's working for? I can't see anything
else that--that could tempt him; and the minute we make a bargain with
him we agree to his terms."

There was a long silence before he said, wearily:

"If we call the deal off we must do it with our eyes open to the
consequences. Ashley would almost certainly throw you over--"

"No; because that possibility couldn't arise."

"And you'll have to be prepared for the disgrace--"

"I shall not look on it as disgrace so much as--paying. It will be
paying for what we've had--if not in one sort of coin, then in another.
But whatever it is, we shall be paying the debt ourselves; we sha'n't be
foisting it off on some one else."

"Why do you say we?"

"Well, won't it be we? I shall have my part in it, sha'n't I? You
wouldn't shut me out from that? I've had my share of the--of the wrong,
so I ought to take my share in the reparation. My whole point is that we
should be acting together."

"They can't put _you_ in Singville."

"No; but they can't keep me from sitting outside the walls. I shall want
to do that, papa, if you're within. I'm not going to separate myself
from you--or from anything you're responsible for. I couldn't if I
wanted to; but as it happens I shouldn't try. I should get a kind of
satisfaction out of it, shouldn't you?--the satisfaction of knowing that
every day we suffered, and every night we slept through or wept
through, and every bit of humiliation and dishonor, was so much
contributed to the great work of--paying up. Isn't that the way you'd
take it?"

"That's all very fine now, dear, when you're--what shall I say?--a