Humbly I carried her hand to my lips. "Forgive me, dear. I don't deserve to be allowed even the privilege of looking upon you."
She gave me a smile so forgiving that it brought the tears to my eyes, and seeing how I was moved she turned away to her father.
"Ruth," he said, relieving the tension, "we have come here, Carlton and I, to ask you a question."
"Yes, Daddy," she replied, softly, sitting down beside him again.
He drew out Dick's letter and handed it to her. When she had read it he explained the process of reasoning that had led him to believe that Dick had killed Darwin and had then committed suicide.
"And now, Ruth, if you saw him there in the study and helped him to escape, if you are shielding him as you did once before, I hope you realize that he is quite unworthy and that it is too much of a sacrifice for you to suffer for his crime."
He had spoken with difficulty, showing how much the words cost him, yet determined to make amends for all the wrong that had been done to Ruth, both by himself and Dick. When he finished she looked from him to me in utter bewilderment.
"I am shielding no one, Daddy. And as far as I know Dick was not in the study when I was there."
There was no mistaking her sincerity. She was telling the truth and the whole business was a worse tangle than ever before.
"Besides," she added, "I do not think Dick would do such a thing."