Ah, this was the hour when the fallen giant faced the Apostle’s awful question: What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death!
And then came Monsignor Lafelle, asking not to see the sick man, but the girl. And, alone with her in the great library that day, he bent low over her hand and begged that she would forgive and forget. It was he who told Mrs. Ames that flagrantly false tale of the girl’s parentage. He had received it from Wenceslas, in Cartagena. It was he who, surmising the dark secret of Ames, had concluded that the supposed 248 Infanta had been his wife. And he had returned to New York to confront him with the charge, and to make great capital out of it. But he had never suspected for a moment Carmen’s connection with the mystery. And now––
But the girl saw only the image of God in the humiliated man. And when he kissed her hand and departed, she bade him know, always, that she loved him as a brother. And he knew it, knew that her love was of the spirit––it left all for the Christ.
A few days later there was delivered at the Ames mansion a cable message from Cartagena, in reply to one which the master had sent to the lawyer, Estrella. Ames shook with suppressed excitement when he read it. Then he bade Carmen send at once for Hitt, Willett, and Captain McCall, and leave them with him for a private conference.
“She must not know! She must not know!” Ames repeated, as the three men sat leaning eagerly forward an hour later, drinking in every word he spoke. “If the mission is successful, well and good. If it fails, then our silence now will be justified, for as yet I have said nothing to her regarding him. Peace is being concluded there. Wenceslas has won––but with––but of that later. When can you get under way, McCall?”
“To-night, sir. The bunkers are full.”
“Very good. I will go aboard at ten. You will weigh anchor immediately.”
“What?” cried Hitt. “You will go?”
“I will!” The sudden flash of his old-time energy nearly startled them from their chairs. “And,” he added, “you, Mr. Hitt, will accompany us. Now, Willett, have the door of my limousine widened to accommodate this wheel chair. I want a dozen men to insure our privacy, and to keep the way clear. No one not in our confidence must see us depart.”
Hitt gasped. “But––Carmen––”