“I already have his promise not to write to you,” Barr told her implacably. “He understands the situation, agrees with your mother and me that your past must be forgotten as quickly as possible. You are entering upon a new life tomorrow when you leave for Virginia with me, a life that will be totally different from David Nash’s. You will—though you don’t seem to realize it—be an heiress to great wealth some day—” “You told him that!” Sally accused him hotly. “You told him he’d be a fortune-hunter if he tried to marry me when I’m of age! Oh, you’re not fair! You have no right to turn David against me, when I love him as I do—” “You’re only sixteen, Sally!” Barr cut in sternly, “You don’t know the meaning of the word love—” “Please, Court,” Enid begged, her own face white and drawn with pity for Sally. “Please let me handle this myself. Sally is overwrought now, nervously exhausted. Come along to bed now, darling,” she coaxed, her little hands upon Sally’s shoulders. “Let Mother tuck you up and sing you a lullaby. I’m not going to be cheated of that experience even if my baby is bigger than I am.” Fresh tears gushed into Sally’s eyes, and she allowed herself to be led away. At the door she paused: “Good night, Mr. Barr. I—I don’t want you to think I don’t appreciate what you’ve done for me—and David—and what you’re going to do for me. I do think you’re good and that you want to be kind to me, but I know you’re making a mistake about David and me. I am young, but I know I love David and that I’ll never want to marry anyone else.” Courtney Barr flushed and looked embarrassed. “Thank you, Sally. I’m sure we’ll be friends. I want to be. I expect to take my duty as your father very seriously, to try to make you happy. As for David, time has a way of settling things if we only give it a chance. By the way, my dear,” he added hastily as Sally was about to pass on into her bedroom with her mother, “I think it will be wiser if your mother does not accompany us to Virginia. I will arrange for you to board with my relatives in Virginia until school opens this fall. They will be glad, for a consideration, to do and say anything I wish them to in regard to you, and we must begin immediately to take every precaution to protect your mother.” “Yes, sir,” Sally answered faintly, her eyes appealing to Enid for consolation. When Sally was in bed, having been flutteringly and lovingly assisted in her preparation by her mother, Enid bent over her to whisper: “Darling, darling, don’t look so forlorn! Two years will pass so swiftly and if you’re very good, we’ll let you ask David to your coming-out party.” CHAPTER XVII