Saltash's brows went up. "Satisfied?" he questioned curtly. "On that point, yes." Jake continued to look at him with a close and searching regard. "Not on all points?" Saltash flicked the ash from his cigarette with a movement of exasperation. Jake turned and slowly walked to the window. There fell a silence between them. He stood staring down upon the scene that Toby had gazed upon a little earlier, but he saw nothing of it. The hardness had gone out of his face, and a deep compassion had taken its place. Saltash continued to smoke for several restless seconds. Finally, he dropped the end of his cigarette into a tray and spoke. "Anything more I can do for you?" Jake wheeled in his massive way, and came back. "Say!" he said slowly. "I'm kind of sorry for that little girl." Saltash made an abrupt movement that passed unexplained. "Well?" he said. Jake faced him squarely. "If I'd been at home," he said, "this would never have happened. Or if it had happened--if it had happened--" He paused. "You'd have made a point of coming to the wedding?" suggested Saltash. Jake passed the suggestion by. "I'd have known how to deal with it, anyway. Now, it seems, it's too late." Saltash took up the envelope from the table, and returned it to his pocket. "I believe you'd have been better pleased if I hadn't married her," he observed. Jake shook his head. "I'd be better pleased--maybe--if I knew for certain what you did it for." "My good Jake. I don't go in for aims and motives," protested Saltash. "Call it a marriage of convenience if you feel that way! It's all the same to me." Jake's brows contracted. "I'd give a good deal not to call it that," he said. Saltash laughed. "Call it what you like--a whim--a fancy--the craze of the moment! You needn't waste any sentiment over it. I'm sorry about Bunny, but, if he hadn't been an ass, it wouldn't have happened. You can't blame me for that anyhow. You did the same thing yourself." "I!" The red-brown eyes suddenly shone. "I don't follow you," said Jake deliberately. "You married your wife to deliver her from--a fate you deemed unsuitable." Saltash's teeth showed for a moment in answer to the gleam in Jake's eyes. "You did it in an almighty hurry too." "But--damn it--she needed protection!" Jake said. "And--at least--I loved her!" Saltash bowed. "Hence your motive was an entirely selfish one. My wife--_au contraire_--is quite unhampered by a husband's devotion. I have never made love to her--yet. I have only--protected her." He paused, and suddenly the old monkey-like look of mischief flashed back into his face. "I lay claim to the higher virtue, Jake," he said. "Heaven alone knows how long it will last. I've never scored over you before, but on this occasion--" He stopped with a careless wave of the hand.