Virginia caught her breath in genuine amazement. Never before had he even hinted that the thought of marriage had entered his imagination. He had made his proposal with a cocksure insolence which assumed that the honor was so high the girl had not been born who could refuse it. A little angry laugh all but escaped before she repressed it. The situation was dramatic. She would play with him a moment--and test his sense of humor. “You honor me beyond my deserts, Mr. Waldron,” she answered naively. “I must differ with you,” he answered briskly. “On the other hand I am sure there is not a woman in America who could grace these halls with your poise, your brilliance, your beauty. The home I have built is worthy of you--yes. That you will fill the high position to which I have called you with dignity and grace I am sure--” She lifted her hand with a movement of impatience--a mischievous smile playing about her mouth. “But you haven’t told me that you love me--“ she protested. “You are a modern woman. You have outgrown the forms of the past--is it necessary to repeat the formula? Can’t you take that much for granted in the offer of my hand?” Virginia shook her head. “I’ve traveled pretty far from the old ways, I know,” she admitted. “I can’t give up all the past. I’ve an idea that a man and woman should love before marriage--” “If the centuries have taught Europe anything,” he argued, “it is that reason, not passion, should determine marriage. I hold to the wisdom of the ages on the point. I ask you to be my wife. Don’t joke. You cannot refuse me.” Virginia rose with decision. “But I do refuse you.” The banker was too surprised to speak for a moment. It was incredible. That a girl with a paltry dowry of a hundred thousand should refuse his offer of millions, his palace in New York, his estates in Europe--a feeling of blind rage choked him. “You cannot mean it?” his cold voice clicked. “Such high honor is not for me,” she firmly replied. “I do not intend to marry--” He studied her with keen eyes, rubbed his glasses and readjusted them again. “You will accept the position I offer without marriage?” he asked eagerly. Her face went white and her body stiffened. “If you will call the car please--I will go--” Waldron’s heels came together with a sharp military click, his big neck bent in the slightest bow, and he led the way into the hall without a word. He made no pretense at politeness or apology. He left her to his servants and mounted the grand stairway in a tumult of blind rage. CHAPTER XX For two years the nation drifted without a rational policy of defense, while the world war continued to drench the earth in blood. The combination of forces represented by Waldron had succeeded in lulling the people into a sense of perfect security. We had always been lucky. A faith that God watched over children and our Republic had become one of the first articles of our creed.