It is time for me to begin the world anew." "But how about that notion o' mine ?" "We beat about the bush, I think," answered the other, pushing back his chair a bit and turning towards Ruby.

"My dear young lady, your father has been begging me to stay--chiefly, no doubt, out of goodwill, but partly also that I may set him in the way to work this newly found wealth of his.

I am sorry, but I must refuse." "Why ?" murmured the girl, taking courage to look at him.
"You oblige me to be brutal." His look was bent on her.

He sat facing the window, and the light, as he leant sidewise, struck into the iris of his eyes and turned them blood-red in their depths.

She had seen the same in dogs' eyes, but never before in a man's: and it sent a small shiver through her.
"Briefly," he went on, "I can stay on one condition only--that I marry you." She rose from her seat and stood, grasping the back rail of the chair.
"Don't be alarmed.