“Well, I don’t think he intended it as an insult, and without intention it cannot be an insult. I think if you had seen him you would have felt this.”
“Do you think I would entrust my daughter’s happiness to a desperado and a midnight assassin?”
“No, I cannot say that I thought you would—nor would I. But I am not prepared to say I think him either an assassin or a desperado.”
“Well, I am,” asserted Mrs. Welch. “I was deceived in him once and I will not give him a chance again.”
“I simply told him that I would confer with you and give him our answer.”
“He will take that as encouragement,” declared Mrs. Welch, “and will be pursuing Ruth and persecuting her.”
“No, he will not. He gave me his word that he would not speak to her without my—without our consent——”
“He will not keep it.” Mrs. Welch’s words were not as positive as her manner.
“Yes, he will. I will stand sponsor.” Major Welch was thinking of the young man as he had just stood before him.