Part 21 (1/2)

”A half-dozen officers, two from the Louisiana regiment, the rest belonging to the staff; they are just ending up a feast in the dining-room.”

”And is the house under guard?”

She hesitated, looking me now squarely in the eyes, her face clearly revealed as the light from within fell upon it.

”Why do you ask?--for military reasons?”

”No; that is all pa.s.sed and gone. We came hoping to capture General Johnston, as scouts informed us this was his headquarters for the night.

But he is not here, and you will do your cause no harm by telling me all I ask.”

”I do not think there are any guards posted,” she answered, convinced that I spoke the truth. ”I have not been out, but I am sure there are no soldiers about the place, except the officers' servants at the stable with the horses. The general departed before dark, and took his bodyguard with him.”

She had no reason to deceive me, and her sincerity was beyond question.

This was better than I had dared hope, and instantly a new plan leaped into my mind, the very audacity of which made me gasp. Yet it might work, carried out with sufficient boldness, although only to be resorted to as a last desperate necessity. As I stood there, revolving this new thought swiftly through my mind, the old fear seemed to return to her.

”Did--did you hear--everything?” she asked again.

”I am afraid I did,” I confessed humbly, ”but I am going to forget.”

”No, that is not necessary. I am not sure I am altogether sorry that you overheard.”

”But I am--at least, a part of what I overheard struck me rather hard.”

”What was that?”

”Your reference to me. Billie, I had been dreaming dreams.”

Her eyes dropped, the long lashes shading them.

”But I had previously warned you,” she said at last, very soberly. ”You knew how impossible such a thought was; you were aware of my engagement.”

”Yes, and I also knew Le Gaire. All I hoped for was time, sufficient time for you to discover his character. He is no bug-a-boo to me any longer, nor shall any tie between you keep me from speaking. As I have told you I did not come here expecting to meet you--not even knowing this was your home--yet you have been in my mind all through the night, and what has occurred yonder between you and that fellow has set me free. Do you know what I mean to do?”

”No, of course not; only--”

”Only I must believe what you said about me to him; only I must continue to respect an agreement which has been wrung out of you by threat. I refuse to be bound. I know now the one thing I wanted most to know, Billie--that you do not love him. Oh, you can never make me think that again--”

”Stop!” and she was looking straight at me again. ”I shall listen to you no longer, Lieutenant Galesworth. I cannot deny the truth of much which you have said, but it is not generous of you to thus take advantage of what was overheard. It was merely a quarrel, and not to be taken seriously. He is coming back, and--and I am going to marry him.”

There was a little catch in her voice, yet she finished the sentence bravely enough, flinging the words at me in open defiance.

”When? To-night?”

”Yes, immediately, as soon as Captain Le Gaire can confer with my father.”

I smiled, not wholly at ease, yet confident I knew her struggle.

”You might deceive some one else, Miss Billie,” I said quietly, ”and perhaps if I were not here this programme might indeed be carried out--I believe Le Gaire is cur enough to insist upon it. But I am here, and you are not going to marry him, unless you tell me with your own lips that you love the man.”