Richter made an apologetic gesture. "That will be impossible. I ran some
risk in coming now and leave Santa Brigida to-night in a fishing boat.
You will stay in this house, as if you expect your father back, until you
hear from him. He will send you instructions when he lands."
Then the kitchen door across the patio opened and a bucket clinked.
Richter stepped back into the shadow and Clare looked round as an
indistinct figure crossed the tiles. When she looked back Richter had
gone and she heard the splash of water. She sat still until the servant
went away and then sank down limply in her chair. She was left alone and
unprotected except for old Lucille, in a foreign town where morals were
lax and license was the rule. The few English and Americans whose help
she might have asked regarded her with suspicion, and it looked as if her
father would be unable to send for her.
This was daunting but it was not the worst. Richter had vaguely hinted at
Kenwardine's business, which was obviously mysterious. She saw where his
hints led, but she would not follow up the clue. Her father had been
ruined by Brandon, and her heart was filled with anger, in which she
found it some relief to indulge. Dick had long been their enemy and
thought her a thief, while the possibility that he was justified in the
line he had taken made matters worse. If she was the daughter of a man
dishonored by some treason against his country, she could not marry Dick.
She had already refused to do so, but she did not want to be logical. It
was simpler to hate him as the cause of her father's downfall. The latter
had always indulged her, and now she understood that he would land in
Brazil penniless, or at least impoverished. Since he was accustomed to
extravagance, it was painful to think of what he might suffer.
Then she began to speculate about Richter's visit. He had come at some
risk and seemed sorry for her, but he had urged her to stay in the house,
as if she expected her father to return. This could be of no advantage to
the latter, and she wondered whether the man had meant to make use of her
to divert suspicion from himself and his friends. It seemed uncharitable
to think so, but she was very bitter and could trust nobody.
After a time she got calm, and remembering that she had her own situation
to consider, counted the money in the bag. It was not a large sum, but
with economy might last for a few weeks, after which she must make some
plans. She was incapable of grappling with any fresh difficulty yet, but
she must brace her courage and not break down, and getting up with a
resolute movement she went into the house.