"No," he says, firmly, "I will not have my revenge that way. It would be defrauding another. You have another niece."
"I have not forgotten her claims," Mr. Langton says, grimly. "I was going on to speak of her when you interrupted me. What I was about to say was this: Reine Langton shall be my heiress, and you shall be her husband."
Vane Charteris starts and recoils.
"No, no!" he exclaims.
"What! you refuse my niece's hand when I offer it to you?" he storms.
"Yes; I cannot marry her, for I do not love her," Vane answers, firmly.
"You handsome idiot! Who said anything about love? I thought we were discussing revenge," cries the old man, testily.
"So we were, but I cannot take my revenge like that! I would sooner die than have an unloved wife tied around my neck like a mill-stone," Vane Charteris answers, gravely.
"An unloved wife," the old man repeats; "and pray, couldn't you love my niece, Reine? She's a bright little beauty to my thinking."
"Love that little hoiden, that incorrigible vixen!" the young man cries, regarding his mother's old friend as if he thought he had taken leave of his senses.