“She didn’t see you, only your hand,” explained Ethel. “And it seemed so mysterious——”
“You told no one—” Ethel shook her head, and the look that leaped into Barclay’s eyes repaid her. “I owe you everything,” he said, his voice shaking with emotion. “If Mitchell had heard of your mother’s sketch, I might have had great difficulty in convincing him of my innocence.” Barclay shivered. “All this has brought back so vividly the death of Paul Patterson——”
“Hush! you must not think of it,” and Ethel laid a tender hand on his eyes. He drew it down and kissed it lingeringly.
“Perhaps you will teach me to forget,” he said wistfully. “Paul Patterson was a splendid fellow, working his way along and building up a fine practice. He would not marry Henrietta Patterson until he could support her in comfort, having a horror of being thought a fortune hunter. They had planned a spring wedding—and six weeks before it Fate and I stepped in”—Barclay closed his eyes. “I had one interview with Henrietta Patterson, and it will live in my memory always.”
“These are morbid fancies,” protested Ethel warmly. “You are not fair to yourself, Julian. You are too young a man to have your whole life blasted by an accident, no matter how tragic, which was the direct result of overstudy and ill-health. Will you promise me to think only of the future?”
“I will do anything—everything for you,” exclaimed Barclay passionately; then, with desperate courage, “My darling, I have so little to offer you except my love that it seems utter presumption on my part to entreat you to marry me. Answer me, Ethel, here and now,” and seizing her hand he looked up into her eyes.
The carmine deepened in Ethel’s pale cheeks, but her gaze did not falter, and stooping nearer as she read those half imperious but imploring eyes, her smiling lips met his. With a low cry of unutterable joy, Barclay’s arms closed around her, and his voice, clear and tender, murmured: “My loyal sweetheart!”
Transcriber’s Notes:
On page 10, withdawn has been changed to withdrawn.
On page 43, ridicuously has been changed to ridiculously.