"I thank you!" he exclaimed in the old way that charmed men and women alike. "You might have worked great harm to me, but you did it in her interest. You have been her friend, and I can harbor nothing against you after that, even if I would. She has had few enough of them, poor child."
"I am glad to have served her, and still more glad that I have been saved the unhappiness which this cruel mistake would have given me if it had gone further. If I may be permitted to congratulate you both, sir, I will retire. May I have a few minutes' conversation with you in the morning? There is the treachery of Meriaz to be considered. Perjury is no light offense in this country, particularly when a foreigner plots against the life of a United States citizen."
"Very well. In the morning at ten. It will give us both time to think the matter over. If you will have the kindness to send Miss de Barryos' maid here with a satchel containing the requisites of a lady's toilet you will add to the favor you have already done."
"It will give me pleasure," returned Stolliker, shaking the hand Carlita extended.
Then he and the Mexican officer, who had been a silent and non-comprehensive witness of the scene, left the room together.
Leith opened his arms and Carlita flew into them.
"My darling," he whispered, "the clouds lasted but a few moments with me, and yet I seem to have suffered for years. What must not all this cruel time have cost you? Sweet one, believing me a murderer, how is it possible that you could have loved me?"
"Don't ask me!" she cried, shivering in his embrace. "Don't ask me. How is it possible that you could love me after all my treachery? I accepted you, held you near me, allowed you even to kiss my lips, in order that I might betray you to the gallows. Was it not the kiss of Judas?"
"The kiss that weakened through love," he answered, drawing her even closer. "Ah, darling, in spite of all, even the treachery you aver, you could have offered me no greater proof of your love than you have done tonight. Do you think that I can ever forget that you would have sacrificed all the years of your life in order to bring forgetfulness to a murderer? Do you think I can forget that you would have shared my exile, with the promise that no word of unfaith should ever escape you? The Good Book says: 'Greater love hath no man than this, that he give his life for his friend.' But that was more than life, Carlita. It was hope and honor and life as well. What suffering would I not have endured to know you love me like this?"