The Vision of Desire
A stifled ejaculation broke from him.
"You thought that?" he said, his voice suddenly roughened by pain. "Oh, my
dear, do you think I haven't learned my lesson--yet?"
She looked at him doubtfully.
"How could I know? Oh, Eliot"--with tragic poignancy--"how could I _know_?"
For a moment the man and woman stood looking at each other in silence,
separated once more by the grey shadow which had fallen again between
them--the shadow of an old distrust. All at once Eliot's pain-wrung face
relaxed.
"Didn't you get my note?" he asked eagerly. "Didn't Cara give it you?"
"Your--note?" For an instant Ann was puzzled. Then she remembered. Cara had
said there was a note for her. At the time she had assumed it was a note
from Brett, and in listening to the history of all that had taken place
upon the yacht she had never given it another thought. She turned to the
sheaf of bills still lying on the table. Yes, it was there, hidden beneath
the bill which she had picked up to examine, afterwards replacing it on the
top of the pile.
She unfolded the note and read it in silence, and, as she read, the grey
shadow which had dimmed even the radiance of love itself unfurled its wings
and fled away.
There could never be any more questioning or doubt. She knew now that
Eliot's faith in her was perfected. He had written this--these words of
utter trust--in circumstances which might have shaken the belief of almost
any man. And his faith had remained steadfast. Love, which casteth out
fear, had cast out this last fear of all.
"Eliot"--Ann's voice broke a little--"you've given me the one thing I still
needed--the absolute certainty of your faith in me."
"I believe in you as I believe in God," he answered simply.
He drew her into his arms.
"And you, beloved--do you know what you have done for me? You have closed
the gates of memory, shown me the way into the 'happy garden'--given me
beauty for ashes."
A silence fell between them. But it was the silence of complete and perfect
understanding. Together they would go forth into the future, unafraid.