He loved Kitty, loved her with an intense, shielding passion, quite unlike that which he had given her mother.

Such a thing could happen! He offered not the least combat; the revelation was too smashing to admit of any doubt.

It was not a recrudescence of his love for Molly, stirred into action by the association with Molly's daughter.

He wanted Kitty for himself, wanted her with every fibre in his body, fiercely.

And never could he tell her--now.
The tragic irony of it all numbed him.