He spoke with the quiet tenderness of a man sure of his own strength. She turned up her face and looked at him wearily, yet with a shimmer of mystery in her eyes.
“I have half-discovered a secret.”
“The brooch?”
“I cannot tell the meaning of it yet. They caught me, Dan and Isaac, watching them uncovering money in the woods. It was last night, and I had followed Dan, and Isaac tried to shoot me, but Dan saved me then.”
“Yes, yes.”
“They brought me back to the cottage, and left me tied to a chair. Ursula came and cut the rope while they were away, and so—I escaped and came to you.”
She hung with a kind of happy languor in the man’s arms now that her heart could unburden itself of all bitterness. The mouth had softened and was no longer petulant. Their eyes held each other in one long, steady look. Neither desired to have it otherwise.
“Bess.”
She thrilled a little, and colored under her brown skin.
“You are safe with me.”