"Leo is glad to see me," Daisy said, patting the dumb creature's head,
and in her voice there was a rebuking tone, which I resented silently.
I was not glad to see her, and I could not act a part, but I wrapped my
waterproof around her and adjusted the hood over her flowing hair, and
thought how beautiful she was, even in that disfiguring garb, and then
we went on our way, the young creature clinging close to me as peal
after peal of thunder rolled over our heads, and gleams of lightning lit
up the inky sky. She did not speak to me, nor I to her, till the red
light on the track was in sight, and we knew the train was coming. Then
she asked timidly. "Do you think Guy will die?"
"Heaven only knows," I said, checking a strong impulse to add: "If he
does, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you killed him."
I was glad now that I did not say it. And I was glad then, when Daisy,
alarmed perhaps by something in the tone of my voice, repeated her
question: "But do you think he will die? If I thought he would I should wish to
die, too. I like him, Miss Frances, better than anyone I ever saw; like
him now as well as I ever did, but I do not want to be his wife, nor
anybody's wife, and that is just the truth. I am sorry he ever saw me
and loved me so well. Tell him that, Fanny."
It was Fanny again and she grasped my hand nervously, for the train was
upon us.
"Promise me solemnly that if you think he is surely going to die you
will let me know in time to see him once more. Promise--quick--and kiss
me as a pledge."
The train had stopped. There was not a moment to lose, and I promised,
and kissed the red lips in the darkness, and felt a remorseful pang when
I saw the little figure go alone into the car which bore her swiftly
away, while I turned my steps homeward with only Leo for my companion.
I had to tell Julia about it, and I gathered up the four scraps of paper
from the floor where Daisy had thrown them, and, joining them together,
saw they really were the marriage settlement, and kept them for Guy,
should he ever be able to hear about it and know what it meant. There
was a telegram for me the next evening, dated at Detroit, and bearing
simply the words, "Arrived safely," and that was all I heard of Daisy.
No one in town knew of her having been here but Julia and myself, and it
was better that they should not, for Guy's life hung on a thread, and
for many days and nights I trembled lest that promise, sealed by a kiss,
would have to be redeemed.