Fernando and Morgianna, during the course of the evening, found
themselves alone, and he ventured to ask:
"Is Lieutenant Matson in America?"
"I think not," she answered, in a careless way that astonished him. He
fixed his eyes on the floor for a moment, and then ventured to say:
"Pardon me, Miss Lane, but as your friend I am interested in your
affairs;--when is it to come off?"
"When is what to come off?" she asked in real surprise.
"Your marriage with Lieutenant Matson."
She gazed at him a moment in astonishment, and then her old native
mischievousness got control, and she laughed outright. His very
earnestness gave the affair an air of ludicrousness.
"I am in earnest, Miss Lane," said Fernando, seriously.
"So I perceive," and she still laughed provokingly.
"May I ask if you have not been engaged all along to Lieutenant Matson?"
"No."
"When was it broken off?"
"It never was made."
Fernando turned his face away to hide his confusion and said half aloud:
"Have I been a fool all along? If it was not the lieutenant, then who in
the name of reason was it?" The roguish creature seemed really to enjoy
this discomfiture. Fernando's cheek had never blanched in battle, but in
the presence of this little maiden he was a coward. After several
efforts in which he found the old malady of something rising in his
throat returning, he said:
"But, Morgianna, was he not your lover?"
"No, he was father's friend; but I could never love him, though I
treated him respectfully.
Pages:
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377