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Page 75
"Thank you, Dr. Leaver. I give you back the wish."
They shook hands, the two faces smiling at each other. Then he went
quickly away. Looking after him she saw that he carried his hat in his
hand until he had reached the gate in the hedge. He closed the gate
without a backward glance, and in a minute more was out of sight.
She went into her dark-room and examined again the plate she had just
developed. Holding it in a certain light, against darkness, she was able
to obtain a faint view of the picture as it would be in the print.
Unquestionably she had made a lifelike and extraordinarily attractive
portrait of a man of distinguished features, caught at a moment when he
had had no notion that the thing was happening. She studied it long and
attentively.
"It would have been better if I hadn't made it," she said slowly to
herself. "For now I shall have it to look at, and I shall have to look at
it. I'm not strong enough--not strong enough--I don't _want_ to be strong
enough--to forego that!"
* * * * *
After nightfall, on that September evening, Leaver took his departure.
Burns was to convey him in the Imp to the city station, because his
train did not stop in the suburban village. For a half-hour before his
going Burns's porch was full, the Macauleys and the Chesters having come
over to do Dr. Leaver honour. They found less chance for talking with him
than they might have done if he had not gone off with Miss Mathewson for
a short walk.
"Something in it, possibly, do you think?" James Macauley asked, in an
aside, of Mrs. Burns. "Miss Mathewson certainly has developed a lot of
good looks this summer that I, for one, never suspected her of before.
Whether she could interest a man like him I don't know and can't guess.
He's no ordinary man. I didn't like him much at first, but as he's
improved in health he's shown up for what he is, and I can understand
Red's interest in getting him on his feet again. He's certainly on 'em
now. That was a great stunt he did for the little chap, according to Red.
Looks a bit suggestive of interest, his going off with Miss Amy for a
walk, at the last minute, don't you think? Still, I can't imagine any
man's looking in that direction when there's what there is across the
street. He hasn't shown any signs of life, there, has he?"
"Jimmy, you're a sad gossip. If I knew all these people's affairs, or if
I knew none of them, I shouldn't discuss them with you. But I'm quite
willing to agree with you that both Amy and Charlotte are delightful,
each in her way."
"Never did get any satisfaction out of you," grumbled James Macauley,
good humouredly. "I didn't suppose women had such a fine sense of honour
when it came to talking over other women."
"Then it's time you found it out."
"What's this? Ellen giving you hot shot?" Burns came up, watch in
hand. "It's time those people were back. They've probably fallen into
a discussion of surgical methods, and forgotten the time."
The missing pair presently appeared. James Macauley looked curiously at
them, but could detect no sign of sentiment about them. Indeed, as they
came up the walk Leaver's voice was heard saying in a most matter-of-fact
way:
"I'll send you a reprint on that subject. You'll find the German notion
has completely changed--completely. Nothing has happened in a long time
that so marks advance in research along those lines."
"He's safe," the observer whispered to Mrs. Burns. "No fun to be had out
of that. Unless--he was clever enough to change his line when he came
within earshot. It has been done, you know. I've done it myself, though I
never jumped to German reprints as a safety station. But, you can usually
tell by the woman. She looks as if she had merely been out for a nice
walk. Not a hair out of place, no high colour, no--"
Ellen moved away from him. She was conscious that she, too, had been
noting signs, but she would not join him further in discussing them.
"I am not good at farewell speeches," said John Leaver, holding Ellen's
hand in both his own, when he had taken leave of every one else. "I only
hope I can show you, somehow, how I feel about what you and your husband
have done for me. I tried to tell Miss Mathewson something of the same
thing, but she wouldn't have it, which was fortunate, for the words stuck
in my throat."
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