"Grateful nothing!" he cried. "I'm not grateful. I'm in love—in love with you. I want you—want you as I never wanted anything or anybody before, and I tell you I'm going to have you. Do you hear?"
Hope could not hide her agitation. The light in her eyes showed she was all a woman.
[Illustration: THE LANGDON FAMILY.]
"Oh, nothing in the world could happen as quickly as that, Mr.
Haines!" she protested, with her last attempt at archness.
"Nothing could?" he threatened. "I'll show you."
He advanced quickly around the table, but the girl darted just beyond his grasp. Then she paused—and her lover gathered her in his arms.
"Hope, my dear, you are my own," was all he could say as he bent over to kiss the lips that were not refused to him.
Hope released herself from his fervent grasp.
"I love you, I do love you," she said fondly. "I believe in you, and father must too. You've got to straighten this tangle out now, for my sake as well as your own. Father will listen."
"It's all so strange, so wonderful, I can hardly understand it," began
Haines slowly, as he held the girl's hands.