time you will honour me, Miss Cable. I am getting very hospitable
in my old age. If you don't mind, Graydon, I won't drink this
cocktail. I may take the champagne. I'm quite a teetotaler, you
see. Milk, always. By the way, Graydon," he said, turning suddenly
to the young man, "I suppose you've led her to believe that I had
a motive in asking her to dine to-night--I mean other than the
pleasure it would give to me."

"I--I rather thought something of the sort," stammered Graydon.

"Well, there is a motive. I've decided at last to tell all I knew.
Don't look like that, Miss Cable. You'll attract attention. Calm
yourself. It will be some time before the story is forthcoming.
Besides, I doubt very much whether you'll get any great satisfaction
out of it, although it may clear things up a bit for you. If
you've been hoping that your father and mother--well, we'll take
our time. Here are the oysters. Oysters make me think of your
father, Graydon. Don't choke, my boy," he chuckled as Graydon
stiffened quickly." He had a woman arrested at her own dinner party
one night--right over there in Fifth Avenue, too. Search warrant,
and all that. The oysters were being served when the papers were
served. Ah, he was a great man for effective revenge. She had dared
him, you see. Did you ever hear of the other time when he permitted
an ignorant host to invite two deadly enemies to the same dinner?
One fellow had robbed the other fellow of his wife. Terrible scandal.
Your father knew that they expected to kill one another on sight.
And yet when the host told him whom he expected to invite he let
him ask the two men. He told me about it afterward. It amused
him. Everybody but the host knew of the row and there was a panic
in the drawing-room."