“And mental degradation!” The words came almost in a whisper. “Meredith tempted me more than he knew. To be handicapped with blindness and poverty, and then to be offered a chance to get away, to have some means of subsistence for the life remaining to me—on the other hand, the humiliation of taking such a means of rescue. God!” He shaded his face with his hand.
McLane leaned over and patted him on the shoulder. “I understand,” he said softly. “You agreed to Meredith’s proposal—”
“Only after I had been told by the girl’s mother that Meredith would otherwise disinherit his niece and that thus she would be left penniless,” answered Curtis. “Then I consented to go through with the ceremony.”
“One for Anne and two for herself,” McLane muttered, too low for Curtis to catch the words, then raised his voice. “Take it from me, Dave, Mrs. Marshall Meredith is Satan in petticoats.”
Curtis laughed mirthlessly. “It would seem so,” he agreed. “Think of it, man, was there ever so mad a scheme? A bride, and one that I have never laid eyes on. I wonder if she be ugly as Hecate or with the temper of Xanthippe.”
“Neither, I assure you,” replied McLane warmly. “Anne Meredith could not do a mean or dishonorable act. Convent bred, she is at times painfully shy, but she has plenty of character. And,” McLane wound up, “she is very beautiful.”
Curtis passed a nervous hand across his sightless eyes. “What you say makes our marriage appear even more unsuitable; in fact, a mockery. I am a derelict—human flotsam—whereas Anne Meredith is at the threshold of life with the world before her.”
McLane stood up and looked down at his companion. “Blindness with you will not be a handicap,” he said stoutly. “I know your capabilities, Dave; your generous heart and splendid courage. I am not afraid of the future for either you or Anne,” and as Curtis opened his lips to speak, he asked: “But tell me, what inspired Meredith’s wish that you and Anne should marry?”
Curtis rose also and stood leaning on his cane. “Good knows, I don’t,” he said. “I have absolutely no idea why he wished the marriage to take place, or why he selected me—a blind man and a stranger—to be the bridegroom.”
McLane stared at him in incredulity. “Most extraordinary!” he ejaculated finally. “Has no one any inkling of the reason?”