"You are certain you can do this?" she cried, beaming with happy eyes upon him.
"There is not the least question of it. But—I must demand payment for my trouble. I shall not do this work for nothing."
With a hot blush Daisy lowered her eyes to the carpet.
"I have already told you what I will do," she said, trembling. "If you accomplish what you say, have no fear but I shall keep my word."
There was an element of pride and truth in the way she spoke that struck the hearer strongly. The reverent smile on his face grew yet deeper.
"I am placed in a peculiar situation," he said, after a slight pause. "Your sister has, unintentionally, no doubt, misrepresented matters in a way that may be embarrassing for us both. When I have removed the troubles that stand in your way, I will talk this over with you."
Daisy looked up quickly. What could he mean?
"I beg you to explain," she stammered. "If there has been any mistake no time can be better to set it right than now."
The man toyed with the lace of the window curtain. He had no intention of evading his duty, and yet he did not find it agreeable as he proceeded.
"Your sister told me," he said, finally, "that—you loved me. She was wrong. I knew all the time she was wrong. You have just offered to give yourself to me in marriage in exchange for the efforts that I am to make on your father's behalf. But I would not marry a woman who did not love me—who only became mine from gratitude. No, I could not accept you under such circumstances."