"Then consider that suggestion unmade, and let me take your consent to Jack. Do you still hesitate?"
"Yes. I had quite made up my mind to do without Jack, and this would change all that."
"Jack does not at all wish to be dispensed with."
"I consider," said Clover with grave gentleness, "that I owe him any favor he chooses to claim; but it seems quixotic on his part to call this one."
"And yet he does. We cannot always understand the vagaries of youth, Mrs. Van Tassel."
"Jack was always willful," she returned, smiling sadly. "Tell him I thank him, Mr. Page, and that Mildred and I will talk it over."
An hour after Gorham's departure, a note was brought to Clover. It was from Jack. He said:—
I thank you for considering my proposition. I have a feeling that in the end you will not refuse me. I have suffered for every unjust word I ever said to you, Clover, and now the only peace possible for me is to be in friendly relations with those my father loved. Only when you are living again under his roof shall I feel that I have won his forgiveness as well as yours. The selfish jealousy of you which has made my heart sore has gone, and gratitude has taken its place. We have both lived long in two years, and suffered much. We can feel for each other.
Forgive your old comrade, JACK.
Clover's tears fell upon this abrupt note, and her heart went out to her friend. She did not need now to talk the matter over with Mildred. She had decided to return to the home by the lake.