Mercedes answered, thanking him in the warmest terms of gratitude for remaining with her darling brother, adding that much as she wished to see the long-lost Clarence, she preferred to endure the pains of waiting rather than to have him leave Gabriel now.
The proudest man in America was Clarence. He knew that in the gratitude of her heart she would allow him to press her to his, and he longed to have that bliss. But faithfully he kept his watch at the hospital, and Gabriel lived yet. No doctor dared say whether he would die or survive his terrible fall, or his health remain impaired. No one dare venture a prophecy for so dark a future.
In the meantime Clarence got his house ready for occupation, and as soon as Gabriel could be removed without danger, they took up their residence there. In the silent recesses of her heart Lizzie thanked God that her surroundings were again those of a lady. She shuddered to remember the poverty she endured for so long a time, and she would have felt really happy could she have been sure that her beloved Gabriel would live.
“George,” said she to her brother, as they walked towards the library, when Clarence had relieved their watch, and was sitting by Gabriel's bedside, “I have an idea in my head which I think we might put into practice, if you will help me.”
“What is it, dear sister?” asked George, tenderly, observing how thin and haggard she looked.
“It is this, that if you and I write to Mercedes that she ought to marry right away, so that Clarence can bring her to be with me, to help me take care of Gabriel, that she will do so.”
“By, Jove! It is a splendid idea, little sister, and I'll write to Mercita and to Doña Josefa at once.”
“It is little enough, George, for you and I to do, when Clarence has been so devoted to my darling,” said she, her eyes filling with tears of heart-felt gratitude.
“Of course it is, but it comes so natural to Clarence to act always like the noble fellow he is, that it would surprise me if he had acted otherwise than nobly.”
“But we ought to consult him about our project.”