"I told Mary what I had discovered about Elise," said John. A light of understanding burst upon him with these words. He ventured, "Rodrigo, had you told her already of—the Van Clair?"
Rodrigo nodded affirmatively.
John was thinking rapidly.
"What did Mary say?" he asked.
"She called me a coward for not telling you the truth, sick as you were. She said she could not—respect me, if I didn't."
John said almost to himself, "Mary thought a lot of you, Rodrigo—does yet."
"She loves you," Rodrigo answered softly, but he could not quite keep the despair out of his voice.
John glanced at him understandingly at last, but he said nothing. When, after a long silence, they resumed the conversation, Dorning strove to change its subject.
"I wish you'd take it easy for a while at the shop, Rodrigo. You don't look well," he said gently. "Rosner has things quite well in hand. We miss you, but I do want you well and perfectly happy when you come back to work."
"I was thinking of returning to Europe," Rodrigo replied, attempting to make his statement as matter-of-fact as possible.