“Then stand close at my side where I can touch you if I want to,” said Virginia.
“I'll be right there, Mrs. Landray,” he answered laughing. “Still I don't see why you should feel it. Benson is the one who has done wrong. All you want is the land, and I've the money here for him, if he'll only take it.”
The carriage drew up at the curb in front of Benson's office, and Wade opened the door and sprang out and helped Virginia to descend. He looked closely into her face, but beyond that it was quite colorless, it betokened nothing of her feeling at that moment. He could not help seeing what a fine and imposing figure she made. He noted the firm set of her lips, and knew she would be fully equal to the occasion.
For a moment Virginia paused before entering the building and glanced about her. Perhaps she did this unconsciously, but Wade thought he understood her feeling.
“Courage!” he said.
She entered the building and went swiftly up the single flight of steps that led to Benson's office. Wade made as if to offer her his arm, but by a quick gesture she declined it. He kept his glance fixed on her face. He would have been quick to detect any sign of wavering on her part; but her face had become a mask which hid all emotion.
They entered the office. In the outer room sat Gibbs writing at his desk, with his bald head just showing where he bent above his work. At another desk Miss Murphy was similarly occupied. An arch which could be closed with folding doors, separated the outer office from the inner and more private room, and here sat Benson. But he was not alone. Dr. Ward, the Episcopal clergyman was with him, and they were talking together.
Wade glanced about him with a swift turn of the head. He saw Gibbs and Miss Murphy; and beyond the arch, Benson and Dr. Ward; and a slight smile parted his lips. Dr. Ward's unlooked-for presence only added to the dramatic value of the moment that was to come, and Wade's alert mind saw beyond the present. It would be all over town in a few hours, and he would be the most talked of lawyer in the county. He nodded pleasantly to Gibbs, who had glanced up from his writing, and whose eye he caught. He smiled at Miss Murphy, who was pretty, and turned to Virginia.
“Courage!” he whispered between his teeth.
Virginia advanced straight to the wide opening between the two rooms. She did not see Gibbs, and she did not see Miss Murphy; though she was conscious of their presence in the room. But she did see Benson, and knew in a vague sort of way that he was seated at his desk talking with a man, but she did not realize who that man was until afterward.