“Couldn’t you have told me that,” she said a little reproachfully, “and have let me help to look?”
“Oh—I guess it was silly of me. I wanted to find it for myself, and then bring it to you as a surprise.”
“Reid! Who’s the childish one now?” She put up her hand and touched his cheek lovingly. “And didn’t you find anything, poor darling?”
“No. But there are still one or two things to look through. I hadn’t time to finish.”
She smiled at him indulgently, not knowing it was the first time she had ever felt sufficiently sure of him to do that.
“Do you want to go and complete the search now?”
“Not particularly.’
“You can if you like.” She gave a luxurious little yawn. “I’m getting sleepy again, anyway.”
“All right.” He held her for a moment longer, almost painfully tight. Then he kissed her and put her down.
At the door, he turned and smiled at her, so that she remembered the magic of those days in Verona and sensed all the magic of the days to come.
When he had gone, she lay there watching the last streak of the evening sun moving slowly across the opposite wall. She thought what a strange and wonderful day it had been. First the glorious news about Morley. Then the terrible struggle in the water. And finally the discovery that Reid loved her.
“It would be quite in keeping now for him to find that Great-Aunt Tabitha left Father half her money after all,” she thought.
But that was a fanciful idea, and one which made her smile sleepily.
Anyway it didn’t really matter. For herself, she hardly cared at all who had the money. The only important thing about that inheritance was that, in leaving the money to Reid, Great-Aunt Tabitha had brought them together.
“Bless her, wherever she is!” .thought Leslie. And, thinking that, she fell asleep again.