“Tell her how you found him at the mines, and what kindness did for him. It’s my opinion he would not be lying as he is now if they had treated him decent.”
She was beginning to espouse Jack’s cause, and encouraged Elithe and kept her up until the clock struck eight, when, under the cover of darkness and rain and umbrellas, they started for the Percy Cottage.
Clarice had spent a wretched day, stunned by the calamity which had overtaken her,—grieving for her brother’s tragic death,—wishing she had treated him better while living, and regretting the grand spectacle in which she was to have been the central figure and which must now be given up. The invitations and orders must be countermanded,—her bridal trousseau exchanged for crape, which she detested, and the wedding march turned into a funeral dirge. It was hard, and Paul tried in vain to console her, telling her there was still a bright future in store for them. Clarice would not be consoled, and with her head on Paul’s shoulder and his arm around her, sat blaming Providence for having dealt so harshly with her, when Elithe was announced.
“Show her in,” she said, without removing herself from Paul’s encircling arm.
She was to have been his wife the next Thursday, and was quite willing that Elithe, of whom she had been jealous, should be witness to her ownership of him.
“Shall both come in?” the maid inquired.
“Both? Whom do you mean?” Clarice asked, and the maid replied: “The elder Miss Hansford is here, and wishes to see you with her niece.”
“Yes, let her come,” Paul said, moving a little as if he would rather Clarice should sit upright in the presence of visitors.
She took the hint and sat up, but kept her place close to him, with her hand on his, and plunged at once into her motive for sending for Elithe.
“You knew my brother,” she began. “I want you to tell me all about your acquaintance with him, but first about this ring. It was not on his finger when he died. It was there when they brought him home. You must have put it there. Why? Didn’t you care for my brother?”