“And that is why you asked me if I would trust you with a daughter of mine?”
“Yes.”
“Conscience. That explains this will.”
“No. Why did you accept my suggestion to marry her?”
“To make her comfortable without sidestepping the rules of convention.”
“No. Because you love her—the way I do.”
Cutty's pipe slipped from his teeth. It did not often do that. He stamped out the embers and laid the pipe on the tray.
“What makes you think I love her?”
“What makes me tell you that I do?”
“Yes, death may be at the end of to-night's work; so I'll admit that I love her. She is like a forest stream, wild at certain turns, but always sweet and clear. I'm an old fool, old enough to be her father. I loved her mother. Can a man love two women with all his heart, one years after the other?”