Clara put aside the music, and walked away toward the window. Vance went up to her. He could see that she was with difficulty curbing her tears.
O, if this man whose very presence inspired such confidence and hope,—if it was sweeter to him to remember another than to listen to her,—where in the wide world should she find, in her desperate strait, a friend?
There was that in her attitude which reminded Vance of Estelle. Some lemon-blossoms in her hair intensified the association by their odors. For a moment it was as if he had thrown off the burden of twenty years, and was living over, in Clara’s presence, that ambrosial hour of first love on the very spot of its birth. “For O, she stood beside him like his youth,—transformed for him the real to a dream, clothing the palpable and the familiar with golden exhalations of the dawn!” Be wary, Vance! One look, one tone amiss, and there’ll be danger!
“Let us talk over your affairs,” he said. “To-morrow I must leave for Natchez. Will you remain here till I come back?”
Clara leaned out of the window a moment, as if to enjoy the balmy evening, and then, calmly taking a seat, replied: “I think ’t will be best for me to lay my case before Miss Tremaine. True, we parted in a pet, but she may not be implacable. Yes, I will call on her. To you, a stranger, what return for your kindness can I make?”
“This return, Perdita: let me be your friend. As soon as ’t is discovered you’ve no money, your position may become a painful one. Let me supply you with funds. I’m rich; and my only heir is my country.”
“No, Mr. Vance! I’ve no claim upon you,—none whatever. What I want for the moment is a shelter; and Laura will give me that, I’m confident.”
Vance reflected a moment, and then, as if a plan had occurred to him by which he could provide for her without her knowing it, he replied: “We shall probably meet at the St. Charles. You can easily send for me, should you require my help. Be generous, and say you’ll notify me, should there be an hour of need?”
“I’ll not fail to remember you in that event, Mr. Vance.”
“Honor bright?”