"My child," said the millionaire solemnly. "As you have resolved to be an Old Maid, I—I—well I thought it only my duty to marry. Even the poorest millionaire cannot shirk the responsibilities of wealth."
"But father!" said Lillie in dismay. "I have changed my mind. I am going to marry Lord Silverdale."
"Bless ye, my children!" said the millionaire. "You are a woman, Lillie, and it is a woman's privilege to change her mind. But I am a man and have no such privilege. I must marry all the same."
"But Miss Nimrod has changed her mind, too," said Lillie, quite losing her temper. "And she is not a woman."
"Gently, gently," said the millionaire. "Respect your stepmother to be, if you have no respect for my future wife."
"Lillie," said Miss Nimrod appealingly, "do not misjudge me. I have not changed my mind."
"But you said you could never marry, on the ground that while you would only marry an unconventional man, an unconventional man wouldn't want to marry you."
"Well? Your father is the man I sought. He didn't want to marry me," she explained frankly.
"Oh," said Lillie, taken utterly aback, and regarding her father commiseratingly.
"It is true," he said, laughing uneasily. "I fell in love with Wee Winnie, but now Nelly says she wants to settle down."