For these days she lived for him alone. Her every thought and desire had been for him. On this his soul fed, since he felt that, as they slipped back into the ordinary tide of life, she would withdraw herself gently but surely from him.
He had fought against the conviction that she loved his rival, the Colorado claimant to the valley. He had tried to persuade himself that her interest in the miner was natural under the circ.u.mstances and entirely independent of sentiment. But in the bottom of his heart such a.s.surances did not convince.
"You will be able to sit up in a few days. It"s wonderful how you have improved," she told him one day as she finished changing his pillow.
"Yes, I shall be well soon. You will be relieved of me," he said with a kind of gentle sadness.
"As if I wanted to be," she reproved softly, her hand smoothing down his hair.
"No. You"re very good to me. You don"t want to be rid of me. But it"s best you should be. I have had all of you that"s good for me, my cousin, unless I could have more than I dare hope."
She looked through the window at the sunlit warmth of the land, and, after a long time, said:
"Must we talk of that, Manuel?"
"No, _nina_--not if I am once sure. I have guessed; but I must be certain beyond the possibility of mistake. Is my guess right? That it can never be."
She turned dim eyes on him and nodded. A lump had risen to her throat that forbade speech.
"I can still say, dearest, that I am glad to have loved you," he answered cheerfully, after an instant"s silence. "And I can promise that I shall trouble you no more. Shall we talk of something else?"
"There is one thing I should like to tell you first," she said with pretty timidity. "How proud I am that such a man could have loved me.
You are the finest man I know. I must be a foolish girl not to--care for you--that way."
"No. A woman"s heart goes where it must. If a man loses, he loses."
She choked over her words. "It doesn"t seem fair. I promised. I wore your ring. I said that if you saved ... him ... I would marry you.
Manuel, I ... I"ll keep faith if you"ll take me and be content to wait for ... that kind of love to grow."
"No, my cousin. I have wooed and lost. Why should you be bound by a pledge made at such a time? As your heart tells you to do, so you must do." He added after a pause: "It is this American, is it not?"
Again she nodded twice, not looking at him lest she see the pain in his eyes.
"I wish you joy, Valencia--a world full of it, so long as life lasts."
He took her fingers in his, and kissed them before he pa.s.sed lightly to another subject:
"Have you heard anything yet of the tin box of Mr. Gordon"s?"
She accepted the transition gratefully, for she was so moved she was afraid lest she break down.
"Not yet. It is strange, too, where it has gone. I have had inquiries made every where."
"For me, I hope it is never found. Why should you feel responsibility to search for these papers that will ruin you and your tenants?"
"If my men had not attacked and tried to murder him he would still have his evidence. I seek only to put him in the position he was in before we injured him."
"You must judge for yourself, Valencia. But, if you don"t mind, I shall continue to wish you failure in your search," he replied.
It was now that Jimmie Corbett came into the room to say that Mr. Gordon would like to call on Don Manuel, if the latter felt able to receive him.
Pesquiera did not glance at his cousin. He answered the boy at once.
"Tell Mr. Gordon I shall be very glad to see him," he said quietly.
Nor did he look at her after the boy had left the room, lest his gaze embarra.s.s her, but gave his attention wholly to propping himself up on his elbow.
d.i.c.k stood a moment filling the doorway before he came limping into the room. From that point he bowed to Miss Valdes, then moved forward to the bed.
He did not offer to shake hands, but stood looking down at his rival, with an odd look of envy on his face. But it was the envy of a brave and generous man, who acknowledged victory to his foe.
"I give you best, Don Manuel," he finally said. "You"ve got me beat at every turn of the road. You saved my life again, and mighty near paid with your own. There ain"t anything to say that will cover that, I reckon."
The Spaniard"s eyes met his steadily, but Pesquiera did not say a word.
He was waiting to see what the other meant.
"You"re a gamer man than I am, and a better one. All I can say is that I"m sorry and ashamed of myself for the way I treated you. If you still want to fight me, I"ll stand up and give you a chance to pepper me.
Anything you think right."
"If you put it so, sir, I have no choice but to join you in regrets and hopes of future amity."
"I can understand that you"d like to spill me over a ten-acre lot, and that you don"t listen to my apologies with any joy," said the Coloradoan, smiling whimsically down at his former foe.
"I do not forget that the first offense was mine, _Senor Gordon_," the Spaniard answered.
Then came Jimmie Corbett again with a message for Miss Valdes.
"Pablo wants to see you, ma"am. Just rode over from the ranch. Says it"s important."
The hands of the two men met in a strong grip as Valencia left the room, and so, too, did their steady gazes. Each of them knew that the other was his rival for the heart of the girl. Oddly enough, each thought the other was the successful suitor. But there was in each some quality of manliness that drew them together in spite of themselves.
Valencia found Pablo sitting on the porch. A rifle lay across his knees ready for emergencies. The deputies had ridden away to the other end of the valley that morning, but Menendez did not intend to be caught napping in case of their unexpected return.
Miss Valdes smiled. "You needn"t be so careful, Pablo. I bring you good news--better than you deserve. Mr. Gordon has promised to drop the cases against you and Sebastian. Even if the officers arrest you, nothing can come of it except a trip to Santa Fe for a few days. If I were you I would give myself up. The rewards have been withdrawn, so it is not likely your friends will betray you."
"But, _Dona_, are you sure? Will this _Americano_ keep his word? Is it certain they will not hold me in prison?"
"I tell you it is sure. Is that not enough? Did you find Mr. Gordon so ready to give you his word and break it when he was your prisoner?"
"True, _Dona_. He laughed at us and told us to kill him. He is a brave man."
"And brave men do not lie."
Pablo turned to his horse and took down from the horn of the saddle a gunny sack tied to it. This he opened. From it he drew a tin box that had been badly blistered with heat.
"It is _Senor_ Gordon"s tin box. After you carried him to the house here the other night I found it under a cottonwood. So I took it home with me. They are papers. Important---- Is it not so?"
"Yes. I have been looking everywhere for them. You did right to bring them back to me."