“You have done very wisely, Mr. De Vinne, in speaking to me about this before revealing the state of your feelings to Miss Renville, and I would advise you not to mention the subject to her until after you have spoken to your father, the Earl. You should know the truth of the matter. Miss Renville is beautiful, but she is poor; in fact, she is a dependent upon my bounty. I do not grudge it to her, for her father and I were the best of friends, and on his death-bed I promised him that I would treat her as though she were my own daughter.”
“That was noble of you,” cried Jack, and before Mr. Glynne could object the young man grasped his hand and shook it warmly.
“I do not ask any praise for my action,” said Mr. Glynne. “Bertha is the light of our household, and I shall miss her greatly when the time comes, if it ever does, for her to go from us. I will tell you a little secret, but you must not mention it to my son. I had hoped in my heart that Clarence and Bertha would fall in love with each other and in that way I should be in no danger of losing her; but some young men are as fickle as women, and my son does not seem to know his own heart.” He was going to say “what is best for him,” but changed the form of the remark just in time.
“I do not blame you for not wishing to lose her,” said Jack.
“I think Clarence must be waiting for you in the billiard room,” suggested Mr. Glynne, “but before you go, Mr. De Vinne—as I stand in the relation of a father to Miss Renville—I wish you would give me your promise not to make any direct proposal to my ward until you have talked the matter over with your father.”
When Jack joined Clarence in the billiard room, the latter exclaimed: “Where have you been, old boy?”
“I have been having a talk with your father.”
“Oh, yes,” said Clarence. “He has been showing you the beautiful pictures in his library, I suppose. Well, he hung on to you longer than he could have hung on to me.”
“Mr. Glynne,” said Jack, “I have known you but a short time, but I want to ask you a question.”
“Go ahead, old fellow. If I can’t answer it, I’ll keep still.”