Part 33 (2/2)
After a while she got up and went out into the plaza People gazed at her curiously; some smiled at one another as she passed, and a number of the women looked suspicious and hostile For all that, she was neither ot hot she returned to the house, where she spent the day drearily ie of Castilian It pro afterward
The week that followed tried her courage She was, in reality, a prisoner, though subject to no open restraint and treated well, except that the senora Garcia regarded her with badly disguised hatred Now and then she saw Go of iot nervous and lost her color and her appetite, but there was nothing to do but wait until Gomez, who apparently meant to wear her out,he careeting stood with his head slightly bent in an attitude of respect He was dressed in a white uniforreasy skin
”You look tired, senorita,” he remarked
”I am very tired of Rio Frio Have you coo away?”
”That you should be eager to do so grieves me, but I can, perhaps, make it possible There is a proposal I wish to make”
”Yes?” Evelyn answered as carelessly as she could
”Youyou to think over it and you will see that it is not so strange as it seems I have the honor to ask you to be my wife”
Evelyn shrank back in horror, as if he had struck her, and then with an effort recovered her self-control
”This is impossible, senor; indeed, it is absurd”
”Your pardon,” he said with oree It is, I think, the best way out of an eument I do not wish to use I would rather speak of the charm you exercise and my respectful admiration”
”We can leave that out I do not value nor desire it”
Thehie lurked beneath
For all that, she was desperate and meant to force the conflict
”Very well,” he said; ”I in with, it looks as if your father did not care what became of you It is now some time since he left you at Valverde and he has not troubled to inquire if you are safe”
”I do not believe that!”
”Well, ill let it go The rest is more important It is known in Valverde that you did me the honor to run aithto her face and her hands clenched The prudence she tried to exercise had given place to ier
”You scoundrel!” she cried ”Do you think it matters to me what your black-blooded countrymen and women think! Your Moorish customs may be necessary for them, but I am an American!”
Gomez chuckled
”There were two American _comisionistas_ at Valverde and they must have heard the story in the cafes It is, you understand, a rohter of a well-known financier elopes with a foreign soldier
The _comisionistas_ talk about it when they return and your newspapers make the most of the tale Some of them are not reserved or fastidious
It is possible they print your portrait One can iine the astonishment of your friends, but the story would be inco”