"My Julie,"she exclaimed,"my dear child!You see,Hiram,she is faint!She is overcome!"The child,she was very little more,broke out at last in speech,passionately,yet with a miserable fore-knowledge of the ineffectiveness of anything she might say.
"It is horrible,"she cried,"it is maddening!Why do we do it?
Are we paupers or adventurers?Oh!let me go away!I am ashamed to stay in this house!"Her father,his thumbs in the armholes of his waistcoat and his legs far apart,looked at her in blank and speechless amazement;her mother,with more consideration but equal lack of sympathy,patted her gently on the back of her hand.
"Silly Julie,"she murmured,"what is there that is horrible,little one?"The dark eyes blazed with scorn,the delicately curved lips shook.
"Why,the way we thrust ourselves upon this man is horrible!"she cried."Can you not see that we are not welcome,that he wishes us gone?"Da Souza smiled in a superior manner;the smile of a man who,if only he would,could explain all things.He patted his daughter on the head with a touch which was meant to be playful.
"My little one,"he said,"you are mistaken!Leave these matters to those who are older and wiser than you.It is but just now that my good friend said to me,'Da Souza,'he say,'I will not have you take your little daughter away!'Oh,we shall see!We shall see!"Julie's tears crept through the fingers closely pressed over her eyes.
"I do not believe it,"she sobbed."He has scarcely looked at me all the time,and I do not want him to.He despises us all -and I don't blame him.It is horrid!"Mrs.Da Souza,with a smile which was meant to be arch,had something to say,but the arrival of breakfast broke up for a while the conversation.Her husband,whom Nature had blessed with a hearty appetite at all times,was this morning after his triumph almost disposed to be boisterous.He praised the cooking,chaffed the servants to their infinite disgust,and continually urged his wife and daughter to keep pace with him in his onslaught upon the various dishes which were placed before him.Before the meal was over Julie had escaped from the table crying softly.Mr.Da Souza's face darkened as he looked up at the sound of her movement,only to see her skirt vanishing through the door.
"Shall you have trouble with her,my dear?"he asked his wife anxiously.
That estimable lady shook her head with a placid smile."Julie is so sensitive,"she muttered,"but she is not disobedient.When the time comes I can make her mind.""But the time has come!"Da Souza exclaimed."It is here now,and Julie is sulky.She will have red eyes and she is not gay!She will not attract him.You must speak with her,my dear.""I will go now -this instant,"she answered,rising."But,Hiram,there is one thing I would much like to know.""Ugh!You women!You are always like that!There is so much that you want to know!""Most women,Hiram -not me!Do I ever seek to know your secrets?
But this time -yes,it would be wiser to tell me a little!""Well?""This Mr.Trent,he asked us here,but it is plain that our company is not pleasant to him.He does his best to get rid of us -he succeeds -he plans that we shall not return.You see him alone and all that is altered.His little scheme has been in vain.We remain!He does not look at our Julie.He speaks of marriage with contempt.Yet you say he will marry her -he,a millionaire!What does it mean,Hiram?""The man,he is in my power,"Da Souza says in a ponderous and stealthy whisper."I know something."She rose and imprinted a solemn kiss upon his forehead.There was something sacramental about the deliberate caress.
"Hiram,"she said,"you are a wonderful man!"
