ardine, who had intentionally involved him in an awkward situation.
Jake admitted that he had not dealt with it very well. For all that, he
began to talk about the irrigation works and the plans for bringing water
to the town, and was relieved to see that Clare had gone when he next
looked round.

As a matter of fact, Clare had quietly stolen away and was sitting on a
balcony in the dark, tingling with anger and humiliation. She imagined
that she had banished Brandon from her thoughts and was alarmed to find
that he had still power to wound her. It had been a shock to learn he
believed that she had stolen his papers; but he had now warned his
companion against her father and no doubt herself. Jake's manner when
questioned had seemed to indicate this.

By and by she tried, not to make excuses for Brandon, but to understand
his point of view, and was forced to admit that it was not unreasonable.
Her father now and then allowed, or perhaps encouraged, his guests to
play for high stakes, and she had hated to see the evening gatherings of
extravagant young men at their house in England. Indeed, she had eagerly
welcomed the change when he had offered to take her abroad because
business necessitated his leaving the country. Things had been better at
Santa Brigida, but after a time the card playing had begun again. The men
who now came to their house were, however, of a different type from the
rather dissipated youths she had previously met. They were quieter and
more reserved; men of experience who had known adventure. Still, she
disliked their coming and had sometimes felt she must escape from a life
that filled her with repugnance. The trouble was that she did not know
where to find a refuge and could not force herself to leave her father,
who had treated her with good-humored indulgence.

Then she began to wonder what was the business that had brought him to
Santa Brigida. He did not talk about it, but she was sure it was not
gambling, as Brandon thought. No doubt he won some money from his
friends, but it could not be much and he must lose at times. She must
look for another explanation and it was hard to find. Men who did not
play cards came to the house in the daytime and occasionally late at
night, and Kenwardine, who wrote a good many letters, now and then went
away down the coast. There was a mystery about his occupation that
puzzled and vaguely alarmed her, and she could turn to nobody for advice.
She had refused h