"It was a secret we thought buried. Why should we have dug it up?"
"Because I was marrying into the family. I was entitled to—"
"I had no intention of permitting you to marry into the family. You must grant I did all in my power to stop it. I even resorted to attracting you myself. I felt sure that my daughter would never marry a man who flirted with her mother. It was shameful perhaps, but I could not afford to be too discriminating."
"You had far better have told me," he protested.
"You mean that if you had known you would not have married?"
"No. I am not sure. But I should have had the chance to consider. Now it is too late."
Mrs. Veynol laughed ringingly.
"Not at all," she denied. "Marriage is the least irrevocable of steps. Give my daughter the grounds and I promise you she will divorce you."
"I have messed things up," mused Carleigh dismally.
"You see, I've lost neither time nor effort to let you know," said Mrs. Veynol. "As a gentleman, though, you will preserve my confidence. As a son-in-law I have told you what I could not even as a futur."