"By Heaven," he said, "if I were a younger man I would kick you down these stairs. Have you forced your way in here to insult me?"
"On the contrary, it was my desire rather to conciliate you; but you charged me with dishonesty at the outset."
"Conciliate me, indeed!" And Sir John turned away with a sneer upon his face.
"We neither of us gain anything by losing our tempers," Ralph said, after a pause. "Had we not better let bygones be bygones?"
Sir John faced him again and stared.
"It is no pleasure to me to rake up the past," Ralph went on. "Probably we should both be happier if we could forget. I don't deny that I vowed eternal enmity against you and yours."
"I am glad to hear it," Sir John snorted.
"Time, however, has taken the sting out of many things, and to-day I love one whom I would have hated."
"You love——?"
"It is of no use beating about the bush," Ralph went on. "I love your daughter, and I have come to ask your permission——"