I don't want him locked
up. I want him to be _free_. He'd be too safe behind the bars?"
The sound of a door opening above came to them at this juncture,
followed by the swift rush of feet and the rustle of skirts. Braddock
looked up and instinctively drew back into an obscured recess at his
left.
Christine's face appeared over the railing above. She leaned far
forward and called out in the high, tense tones of extreme
nervousness:
"Father! Is it you? Are you there?"
There was no response.
David, standing on the lower step, permitted his gaze to swerve from
the sweet, eager face of the girl above to that of the man in the
corner.
The effect on Braddock was astounding. Signs of a great convulsion
revealed themselves in his face. His lips were parted and drawn as if
in pain; his eyes were half closed, screening the emotion that groped
behind the lids. It was the face, the figure of a man mightily shaken
by an unexpected emotion. Slowly his eyes were opened. An expression
of utter despair and longing had come into them. Mrs. Braddock was
staring at her husband as if she could not believe her senses.
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