He ranged himself beside her, his back against the rail, so that his eyes took in every aspect of her face and figure.
"He is asleep," she returned in a low voice, "and so I ventured out for a breath of fresh air. He was--delirious--through the night."
He looked at her reproachfully. "And you watched with him all night?"
"You might, at least, have permitted me to divide the time with you."
A certain quality in his tones made her glance up swiftly.
"I--I think so," she faltered. "There is--danger?"
"It is just as well to have a guard," he said drily. "In case the--ah!--delirium should return." He beckoned to one of the sailors, and spoke to him in Spanish.
As the man retreated, she turned to him, her blue eyes swimming in a bright mist of tears.
"It is nothing," he said simply. "Will you come up on the hurricane-deck? I have a desire for wide sweeps--great distances to-day."
"Your father is safe," he urged. "I have set two men at his door. And I have something to say to you."
"I also have something to say to you," she answered, with a queer little laugh.
They did not speak again until he had placed her in a luxurious steamer-chair, protected from the rays of the sun by a gay striped awning, and seated himself beside her.
Doris folded her hands in her lap, and gazed across the shimmering water. Slowly her eyes came back, and rested upon the figure beside her. She drew from about her neck a slender gold chain, from which depended a locket, and a ring, set quaintly with a ruby.
"Count Poltavo," she said, in a low, clear tone, "do you remember giving me this ring?"
"Yes." His face had paled slightly, and a light came into his eyes.
"And--and the pledge which I made you then?"
"I bound myself to answer any question you should wish to ask--if you should save my father from Mr. Baggin. Yesterday, that came to pass. During a lucid interval in the night, my father"--her voice quivered on the word--"spoke of you, but brokenly, and I did not completely understand until you set the guard about his door."
The count made as if to speak, but she raised a protesting hand. "So now you have fulfilled your pledge to me, and I"--she lifted her head proudly--"stand ready to redeem mine."
He looked at her strangely. "You would marry me?"