"I don't want Delight to know Madam Lee's money has previously been willed to me," he said. "If she suspected that, she would never take it. You are not to tell her--promise me you will see to that." "Of course I will arrange the affair any way you wish," Mr. Galbraith agreed, with a dubious frown. "But if you are to marry her, I really can't see what difference it would make." "It will make a great deal of difference," declared the younger man. "In the one case the fortune will be hers to use as she pleases. She will have the independent right to hand it over to the Brewsters if she so desires. Our entire relation will be placed on another basis; for if I marry her under those conditions I marry an heiress, not the ward of a poor fisherman." "I hadn't thought of that." "On the other hand, if she refuses the money, it will be mine to lay at her feet. Can't you see what a vast contrast there will be in my position?" Mr. Galbraith nodded thoughtfully as if considering the matter from a new angle. "That's the only reason the fortune would mean anything to me--that I might have something to offer her," continued Robert Morton. "Of course, as you said, she would have the benefit of the money in either case; but it makes a difference whether it comes to her by the mere right of inheritance, or whether she takes it from her--husband." "There is a distinction," admitted the elder man. "Now that you call my attention to it, I can see that readily. It is a delicate one, but its consequences are far-reaching. Well, you shall have your way! A proportion of the legacy shall be offered to Delight, and the secret regarding it shall be yours to keep or divulge as you see fit. You are a noble fellow, Bob. I only wish--" He checked the impulsive phrase that rose to his lips but not before the listener had caught its import. "Mr. Snelling is a fine man, Mr. Galbraith," broke in Bob instantly, dreading the words that might follow. "Oh, I know it--there is no question about that," the capitalist assented with haste. "Success is written all over his future, and I know he will be a son-in-law to be proud of. He and Cynthia are royally happy too, and no doubt know better than I what they want. After all, none of us can live other people's lives; each must work out his own." "You've said it, Mr. Galbraith." The financier smiled and his eyes twinkled beneath the shaggy brows that arched them. "You will have to be getting used to calling me by another name, young man," he said. "Remember I am to be your uncle." CHAPTER XXII DELIGHT MAKES HER DECISION