Gordon paused and looked at James. "Yes," he said, "that man was Clemency's father."
He waited, but only for a second. The young man spoke, and his clear young voice rang out like a trumpet. "I never loved Clemency as I love her now," he said.
CHAPTER XI
Gordon smiled at James. "God bless you, boy!" he said.
"What possible difference do you think that could make?" demanded James hotly. "Could that poor little girl help it?"
"Of course she could not, but some men might object, and with reason, to marrying a girl who came of such stock on her father's side."
"I am not one of those men."
"No, I don't think you are, but it is only my duty to put the case plainly before you. That man who was buried this afternoon was simply unspeakable. He was a monstrosity of perverted morality. I cannot even bring myself to tell you what I know of him. I cannot even bring myself to give you the least hint of what my poor young sister, Clemency's mother, suffered in her brief life with him. You may fear heredity—"