, 1924-04-23
CHAPTER XIII

Nv
Sir Timothy laid his hat upon the
sldeboard and slowly removed his
gloves.
81 trust" he said. shat tins pint
bottle does not represent your cellar.
L Will drink a glass of wine with you,
and with your permission make myself
a pate sandwich. l was just sitting
down to luncheon when I received the
Information which brought me here"
= Francis produced mother bottle Of
wine from the sideboard and filed his
visitors glass.
"You will drink, I hope. to our hap
piness," he said.
II shall do nothing Of the sort"
Sir Timothy declared. helping himself
with care to the pate. ~ have no su-
perstitions about breaking bread with
an enemy, or / should not have asked
you to visit me at the Sanctuary, Mr..
Ledsam. I object to your marriage
with my daughter. and I shall take
whnt steps ! can to prevent It."
"Why?"
He seemed to be enjoying his sand
witch; he also appreciated the flavor
OF his wine.
your question:" ne said. STRIKES
me as being a little Ingenious. You
are at the present moment suspectinc
ME of crimes beyond number. You en-
courage Scotland Yard detectives to
make asses Of themselves In my
stream. Your myrmidons scramble
nnfn the ton nf INV vvnIIa and 49, A..
hribe my servants to disclose the mys
teries OF my household. You have &C.
cepted to the fullest extent my volun.
teered statement that / am a patron
of crime. You are. In short-forgive
me II help myself to n little more of
this pate-engaged In n strenuous at
tempt to bring me to Justice"
"None of these things affects your
daughter" Francis pointed out.
Pardon me-" Sir Timothy objected.
You are a great and shining light OF
the English law. People speak OF YOU
as a future chancellor. How can you
contemplate nm alliance with the Wild
DIV of n criminal and the daughter
Of another7'
AS to Margaret being oliver Hi
aitch's widow" Francis replied. "you
were responsible for that, and no one
else. He was your protege; you gave
your consent to the marriage. As to
your being her father, that ngain is
not Margaret's fault. ! should marry
her II Oliver Hildltch had been three
times the villain he was. and II you
were the devil HIMSELF
II am getting quite to like you. Mr..
Ledsam." Sir Timothy declared, help
ing himself to another piece OF toast
and commencing to butter Il. MAR.
garet. what have you to say about all
this7"
Il have nothing to say" she nm
swered. Francis Is speaking for me.
] never dreamed that after what | have
gone through I should be able to care
Tor any n again In this world. do
care, and I am very happy about II.
All last night ! lay awake. making up
my mind to run away. and this morn.
ting I actually booked my passage to
Buenos Aires. Then we met-just out.
side the steamship ofics-and ! knew
at once that ! was making u mistake.
I shall marry Francis exactly when he
wants me to-"
Sir Timothy passed his glass towards
his proposed son-In-lnw.
Might one suggest" he began
~thank you very much. This, Is OF
course, very upsettlng to me. I seem
TO be set completely Mt defiance. II is
q very excellent wine. this. and n won.
derfui vintage"
Francis bent over Margaret.
Please finish your lunch. DEAR" he
begged. ut Is perhaps just rs well
that your father came. We shall know
sxactly where we are"
"Iust no." Sir Timothy agreed.