Part 11 (1/2)
His face fell, and he bit his lip. Certainly this was not the answer he had expected.
”But I want you!” he burst out, still more awkwardly. ”I want to--to protect you from--er--from Jack.”
”Protect me from Jack?”
”Yes, Marion. You know what he is, a mere n.o.body.”
”Jack is my brother.”
”He is not, and you know it.”
”He is the same as if he were my brother, St. John.”
”Again I say he is not. He is a mere upstart, and he will prove a snake in the gra.s.s unless you watch him. Your mother made a big mistake when she adopted him.”
”There may be two opinions upon that point.”
”He knows your mother is rich. Mark my word, he will do all he can, sooner or later, to get her property away from her.”
”I will not believe evil of Jack.”
”You evidently think more of him than you do of me!” sneered the spendthrift, seeing that he was making no headway in his suit.
”I do not deny that I think the world and all of Jack. He is my brother in heart, if not in blood--and I will thank you to remember that after this,” went on Marion in a decided tone.
”You will learn of your mistake some time--perhaps when it is too late.”
”Jack is true to the core, and as brave as he is true. Why, he would go to the war if mamma would give her consent.”
At this St. John Ruthven winced.
”Well--er--I would go myself if my mother did not need me at home,” he stammered. ”She must have somebody to look after the plantation. We can't trust the n.i.g.g.e.rs.”
”Many men have gone to the front and allowed their plantations to take care of themselves. They place the honor of their glorious country over everything else.”
”Well, my mother will not allow me to go--she has positively forbidden it,” insisted St. John, anxious to clear his character.
This statement was untrue; he had never spoken to his mother on the subject, thinking she might urge him to go to the front. His plea that he must look after the plantation was entirely of his own making.
”Supposing we should lose in this struggle--what will become of your plantation then?”
At this St. John grew pale.
”I--I hardly think we will lose,” he stammered. ”We have plenty of soldiers.”
”But not as many as the North has. General Lee could use fifty thousand more men, if he could get them.”
”Well, I shall go to the front when I am actually needed, Marion; you can take my word on that. But won't you listen to what I have told you about my feeling for you?”