"Philip is free once more! Oh, Madeline, Madeline; and it was you who saved him; it was you!"
Madeline pushes the message into her hand, saying: "If I have done such wonderful things, why do you refuse to obey me? Go, now, and take this good news to Clarence Vaughan. And mind you, don't come back, for I am going to tell Mrs. Ralston."
Half laughing, half crying, Claire is compelled to go down to the library alone. Clarence Vaughan is there, pacing thoughtfully up and down.
Claire enters softly, the paper ostentatiously displayed in her hand. But he looks straight at the blushing, bashful, tear-stained face. Her eyes, half glad, half shy, wholly tell-tale, fall before his own. And the lover who has waited in patience for his opportunity, seizes it now and makes it a moment of victory.
"I have brought you good news, Dr. Vaughan."
He comes straight toward her, and imprisons both little hands, together with the "news" they contain.
"You have brought me yourself, then, and I have been lying in wait for this opportunity. Claire, shall you ever run away from me again?"
It is useless to rebel. His voice tells her that he knows too much, and that he will not be evaded any more.
She gives him one glimpse of her face, and then she is clasped in his strong, loving arms, and from this safe haven, after a time, she tells her good news, struggling prettily to free herself from the loving imprisonment.
"Philip is free, and is coming home."