She had made up her mind where she was going, and the thought of that intended destination put some of the spirit of old Echford Flagg in her.
When she was free from the crowd she began to run; instinct of the homing sort impelled her to hasten. She had not settled in her mind what she would say or do when she got there, but there seemed to be no other place in all the world for her right then except the big house on the ledges.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
LIDA did not wait to be admitted to her grandfather’s house in the conventional manner; she did not dare to test her new resolution by a pause on the steps, and she was afraid that Rickety Dick would enforce the Flagg injunction against a woman.
Gasping for breath after her run across the ledges, she flung herself into the presence of her grandfather.
Dick was holding a flaming splint of wood to the bowl of Flagg’s pipe. Startled, he dropped the splint, and the fire burned out unheeded on the bare floor.
She held on to the cap and the jacket and with her free hand she beat upon her breast and tried to pour out a confession of her part in the mischief which had been done. She could not tell Flagg who she was; she was telling him what she was. She made herself a part of the Vose-Mern conspiracy; that seemed to be the best way. She did not try to make herself better than her associates; she admitted that she was an operative; in no other way could she account for her presence in the north country; and the old man’s keen eyes warned her that a less plausible statement would endanger her secret. Therefore, she arraigned herself bitterly as the cause of Latisan’s undoing, and to explain her new attitude she pleaded love and resulting repentance. There seemed to be no other way of giving Flagg a good reason why she was interested in speeding the fortunes of Latisan and the Flagg drive.
She began to babble rather incoherently. His silence troubled her. His gaze was intent.
After a time, allowing her to talk on, he ordered Dick to bring more fire for the pipe, and then he puffed and listened a little longer.