"It is far more than a difference of opinion."

"Let the difference be what it may, Mara," he answered gently, resolving
not to be baffled, "if you are so sure you are right, you should at least
be willing to accord to one whom you once regarded as a friend the
privilege of pleading his cause. Truth and right do not intrench
themselves in repelling silence. That is the refuge of prejudice. If you
will hear my side of the question, I will listen with the deepest interest
to yours, and believe me you have a powerful ally in my heart."

"Your head has gained such ascendency over your heart, Mr. Clancy, that
you cannot understand me. In some women the strongest reasons for or
against a thing proceed from the latter organ."

"Is yours, then, so cold toward me?" he asked sadly.

"It is not cold toward the memory of my murdered parents," she replied
with an ominous flash in her eyes.

Clancy looked at her in momentary surprise, then said firmly, "My father
eventually died from injuries received in the war, but he was not
murdered. He was wounded in fair battle in which he struck as well as
received blows."

Again there was a quick flush upon her pale face, but now it was one of
indignation as she said bitterly, "Fair battle! So you call it fair battle
when men are overpowered in defending their homes. If armed robbers broke
into your house, and you gave blows as well as received them, would you
not be murdered if it so happened that you were killed? Why should we