"I have done my duty," said Mrs. Walker without flinching.
"Duty! duty! what is duty when I wanted love? I have lived in a freezing atmosphere which has nearly changed me into a statue. Can you wonder that I sought out someone to love?"
"Perhaps not, since you are young and foolish, but I regret that the someone should be a girl that I cannot possibly receive as my daughter-in-law."
"What do you mean by that?" demanded George sharply.
"Nothing detrimental to the girl," replied Mrs. Walker calmly. "She may have all the beauty in the world, and all the virtues, and probably has, in your eyes, but she is Walter Hale's daughter and so cannot be mine."
"Why do you hate Mr. Hale, mother?"
"That," said Mrs. Walker, sitting very upright, "is my private business."
"But when it interferes with my happiness----"
"I cannot help that," she said rigorously. "What is past is past, and what is dead is dead."
"I don't understand you."