Again he shook his head disowning his right to gratitude. His eyes once more watched what she held.
All at once, reading his look, the discrepancy between the nature of her indebtedness and the sordid return she had planned, struck her. She laid the packet on the table.
He looked up, questioningly.
So repugnant did the action she had contemplated now appear to her that she hung her head.
"I no longer wish to give it to you," she said in a stifled voice. "Grandfather's happiness, my own life—can money pay for such things?"
He took her by the hand.
It was some moments before he could regain command of himself. Then he said:
"I am always your friend, Rachel."
She nodded.
For some moments longer they stood, their hands joined. Presently he touched her forehead with his lips. "Good-bye."