Dick felt his heart beat as he saw Clare. She was dressed in white, and
the silver clasp gleamed against a lavender band at her waist. It was
significant that she wore it, but he could not see her face clearly. Then
Ida beckoned Jake.
"Come along; I want to look at the drawings."
They went into the house, and Dick made an effort to preserve his
self-control. Clare moved into the light and he saw her color rise,
though her eyes were very soft.
"Why didn't you tell me you were ill?" she asked with gentle reproach.
He hesitated, trying to strengthen his resolution, which he knew was
breaking down, and Clare resumed: "Besides, I don't think you should have kept that letter back."
Dick instinctively pulled out the leather case, and started as he saw
there was nothing inside.
"It's gone. You have seen it?" he stammered.
"I've seen them both," Clare answered with a smile. "Doesn't this remind
you of something? I'm afraid you're careless, Dick."
The color rushed into his face. "If you have seen those letters, you know
what a suspicious fool I've been."
"That doesn't matter. You're convinced at last?" Clare rejoined with a
hint of pride.
"In a sense, I always was convinced. If I'd seen you take the wretched
plans, I wouldn't have held you accountable. Because you took them, it
couldn't have been wrong."
Clare blushed, but looked at him with shining eyes. "I wanted to hear you
say it again. But it wasn't that letter--I mean the one about the
plans--that brought me."
Then the last of Dick's self-control vanished and with a half conscious
movement he held out his hands. Clare came forward and next moment she
was in his arms.
Some time later he felt he must be practical and said in a deprecatory
tone: "But you must try to understand what you are doing, dear, and the
sacrifices you must make. Things aren't quite as bad as they looked, but
I can't go home just yet and may always be a poor engineer." He indicated
the galvanized-iron shack. "You will have to live in a place like this,
and though I think my eye will get better, there's the scar on my
face----"
Clare gave him a quiet smiling glance. "That doesn't matter, Dick, and I
never really had a home." She paused and added gently: "But I shall have
one now."