And he had lost her! Oh, God, how he loved her! And he had lost her
forever! There was no hope for him. He must save his father--not his
father's money. That counted for nothing--but his father's honour--his
father's good name.
And even if he were not bound to make this sacrifice, to marry Maude
Falconer, how could he go to Heron Hall and ask Godfrey Heron, the man
of ancient lineage, of unsullied name, to give his daughter to the son
of a man whose past was so black that his character was at the mercy of
Ralph Falconer? Stafford rose and stretched out his arms as if to
thrust from him a weight too grievous to be borne, a cup too bitten to
be drained; then his arms fell to his sides and, with a hardening of
the face, a tightening of the lips which made him look strangely like
his father, he left the library, and crossing the hall, made his way to
the ball-room.