”No，”CaptainElishasteppedinfrontofthedoor。”Sheain’tgoin’；andI’dratheryouwouldn’tgoyet。Let’ssettlethisupnow。Iain’taskin’anythingunreasonable。Caroline’sundermycharge，andI’vegottoplanforher。Yourboy’sjustcrazytomarryher；he’sbeenbeggin’forhertonametheday。Let’snameit。Itneedn’tbeto-morrow。Ical’lateyou’llwanttogetoutinvitationsandsuch。Itneedn’tbenextweek。Butjustsayaboutwhenitcanbe；thenI’llknowhowtoplan。Thatain’tmuchtoask，sartin。”Muchorlittle，neitherMrs。Dunnnorhersonappearedreadytoanswer。Malcolmfidgetedwithhishatandgloves；hismotherfannedherselfwithherhandkerchief。Caroline，franticwithhumiliationandshame，wouldhaveprotestedagain，butherguardian’ssternshakeoftheheadsilencedher。”Well，Mr。Dunn，”turningtothegroom-to-be；”you’reoneoftheinterestedparties——whatdoyousay？”
Malcolmgroundhisheelintotherug。”Idon’tconsiderityourbusiness，”hedeclared。”You’rebuttinginwhere——””No，no，Iain’t。It’smybusiness，andbusinessisjustWHATitis。Yourmaknowsthat。SheandIhadarealconfidentialupanddowntalkonloveandmarriage，andshe’stheonethatprovedtomethatmarryin’inhighsociety，likeyoursandthekindCaroline’sbeencirculatin’in，wasbusinessandmightylittleelse。There’sabusinesscontractbetweenyouandmyniece。Wewanttoknowhowsoonitcanbecarriedout，that’sall。”
Theyoungmanlookeddesperatelyatthedoor；butthecaptain’sbroadshouldersblockedthewaytowardsit。Hehesitated，scowled，andthen，withashrugofhisshoulders，surrendered。”HowcanImarry？”hedemandedsullenly。”Confoundit！mysalaryisn’tlargeenoughtopaymyownway，decently。””Malcolm！”criedhismother，warningly。”Well，Mater，whatthedevil’stheuseofallthis？Youknow……
ByJove！youOUGHTto！””Holdon，youngfeller！Idon’tunderstand。Yourwagesain’tlargeenough，yousay？Whatdoyoumean？YouwasGOIN’tobemarried，wasn’tyou？”
Mrs。Dunnplungedtotherescue，aforlornhope，butdesperate，andfightingtotheend。”Anoutrage！”sheblurted。”Malcolm，Iforbidyoutocontinuethisdisgustingconversation。Caroline，mypoorchild，Idon’tblameyouforthis，butIcallonyoutostopitatonce。Mydear，I——”