“No,” he admitted, with a reminiscent smile. “So many odd things have been going on lately that I confess my inability as a guesser.”
“Listen to this. Eveley’s sister has fallen in love with some crazy aviator, and is going to elope with him. And she wants Burton to get a divorce so she can marry him.”
Nolan was plainly dumfounded at this revelation.
“And that is not the worst. She is going to desert those two children, and Eveley—You know Eve. She says she will be the willing sacrifice to save the honor of the family, and has decided to marry Burton herself, to be a mother to Winifred’s children.”
“Preposterous!” gasped Nolan, looking into her flushed face for symptoms of delirium.
“True,” came the grim answer. “But we must never allow such a bloodcurdling thing to happen. It wouldn’t be right. I want you to go right over to Eveley’s as fast as you can, and make her marry you. You can pretend you do not know anything about this, and sweep her right off her feet. Get her promise before she knows what is going on, and marry her before she realizes it. Then perhaps Winifred will come to her senses and not do this outrageous thing.”
“But, Kitty—”
“You love Eveley, don’t you?”
“Yes, of course, but—”
“Then do you call yourself a man, and yet stand idly by and see the woman you love sacrifice her life for her sister’s honor—and—er babies—and—”