So don't you say anything more about it, 'Liz'beth." "Pore Jacob!" said his wife.

"Well, I woon't, dear." IV It was clear to Beaton that Dryfoos distrusted him; and the fact heightened his pleasure in Christine's liking for him.

He was as sure of this as he was of the other, though he was not so sure of any reason for his pleasure in it.

She had her charm; the charm of wildness to which a certain wildness in himself responded; and there were times when his fancy contrived a common future for them, which would have a prosperity forced from the old fellow's love of the girl.

Beaton liked the idea of this compulsion better than he liked the idea of the money; there was something a little repulsive in that; he imagined himself rejecting it; he almost wished he was enough in love with the girl to marry her without it; that would be fine.