"You will do nothing of the kind, Gertrude. It is outrageous. What business have you got with that kind of girls? I _asked_ you to stop having them come here, and I told you to let them alone. I am perfectly disgusted with Avery, here, for--" He had thought Francis was gone. The drapery where she had turned to hear what Gertrude would say hid her from him. "_With that kind of girls!_" was ringing in her ears. "I hope when you are married _that_ is not the sort of society he is going to surround you with. It--" Avery saw for the first time what the trouble was. He stepped quickly to Gertrude's side and slipped one arm about her. Then he took the hand she still held toward her father. "My wife shall have her own choice. She is as capable as I to choose. I shall not interfere. She shall not find me a master, but a comrade. Gertrude is her own judge and my adviser. That is all I ask, and it is all I assume for myself as her husband--when that time comes," he added, with her hand to his lips. Mrs. Foster entered attired for the street. The unhappy face of Francis King with wide eyes staring at Gertrude met her gaze. She had heard what went before. "Get your hat, Gertrude," she said. "I will go with you. It might take too long to get a carriage. Francis, come with me; Gertrude will follow us. Come with her, my son," she said, to Selden Avery, and a spasm of happiness swept over his face. She had never called him that before. He stooped and kissed her, and there were tears in the young man's eyes as Mrs. Foster led Francis King away. "I suppose it was all my fault to begin with," said John Martin, when the door had closed behind them. "It all started from that visit to the Spillinis. The only way to keep the girls of this age in--" he was going to say "in their place," but he changed to 'where they belong,' "is not to let them find out the facts of life. Charity and religion did well enough to appease the consciences of women before they had colleges, and all that. I didn't tell you so at the time, but I always did think it was a mistake to send Gertrude to a college where she could measure her wits with men. She'll never give it up. She don't know where to stop." Mr. Foster lighted a cigar--a thing he seldom did in the drawing-room. He handed one to John Martin.