She arose as they entered and looked anxiously from one to the other.
Le led his companion up to her and said, in a broken voice:
"She has told me all about it. And yet I do not understand it in the least. See! she wants attention."
Mrs. Force received the half-fainting girl in her arms, and guided her to a large, cushioned chair, which Le hastened to push forward.
When Odalite was seated and reclining against the high, cushioned back, Le lifted her hand, pressed it to his lips, and turned to leave the room.
Mrs. Force followed him into the hall.
"Where are you going, Le?" she inquired.
"I don"t know--I don"t know! I feel lost! Like Adam turned out of Eden!
And without my Eve--without my Eve!" he groaned.
"Bear it like a man, Le! You are very young, and--there are many lovely girls in the world in your reach."
"Oh, don"t. Aunt Elfrida! don"t! Never mind me! Go in to Odalite--she needs you."
"Le, do not leave the house--at least, till you see your uncle," pleaded the lady.
"Oh, no, I shall not go away at once. I shall do nothing hastily, to hurt her. I hurt her enough this morning, the Lord knows!" said the youth, with a heavy sigh.
Mrs. Force looked up inquiringly.
"Oh, yes," continued Le, "I behaved like a brute! I went out of my head, I think--when she first told me--and I raged at her! raged at the tender, defenseless, little creature--like the wild beast that I was!"
"Oh, Le, it was natural, my poor lad!"
"I was a savage! brutal! beastly! devilish!--but I was out of my mind! And she never defended herself, only cried--cried for me! I wish I had dropped dead before I spoke a word to hurt her! But the devil took me unawares, and drove me out of my senses."
"I do not wonder, Le."
"But there, Aunt Elfrida. Go to her! I will walk on the porch for a while."
Le"s appearance on the porch was the signal for such a reception, or, rather, such an ovation, as could only be seen on a Southern plantation, and upon some such occasion as the present.
The news of the young midshipman"s return--or "the young master"s," as they chose to call him, in view of his relations, present and prospective, to the family of Mondreer--had spread far and wide among the negroes, and they came flocking up, men, women and children, to shake hands with him and welcome him home.
Some of the elder negroes, with "itching palms," belabored him with begging questions of--
"Wot yer got fur yer ole Aunt Mole, honey?"
"Wot yer done home f"om furrin" parts fur yer ole Uncle Bob?"
And so forth and so forth.
Le promised one and all a present as soon as ever his sea chest should arrive.
And yet they might have stayed there all day but for the opportune appearance of Aunt Lucy on the scene.
She had watched from an upper window the gathering of the crowd, and now she swooped down upon them.
"Shame o" yerselbes!" she said. "Come yere bodderin" the young ma.r.s.e fust minute as eber he get in de house! Whar"s yer manners?"
"Don"t scold them, Aunt Lucy," pleaded Le. "They came to welcome me home."
"Dey come to beg, dat"s wot dey come for--to beg. It"s a habit dey gibs deirselves," said the unrelenting Lucy.
"It is a habit they cannot indulge in more than once in three years, where I am concerned. I do not come home every day."
"An" a werry good fing, too, for it"s a werry bad habit."
"What, coming home?"
"No, sah. Dem n.i.g.g.ahs is a werry bad habit as oughtn"t to be "dulged in once--no, not once. Now cl"ar out wid yer all, an" go "bout yer work."
This order was addressed to the negroes, who, overawed by the authority of the chief house servant, began to steal away from the house.
CHAPTER XV
LE"S FIERY TRIAL
Le was still walking up and down on the porch, when Mr. Force rode up, followed by his mounted groom.
He did not see Le, who was partly shaded by the bare tangle of the climbing rose vines on the trelliswork.
He threw himself out of his saddle, threw his bridle to his groom, and came up the steps.
"Ho, my boy!" he shouted, as he caught sight of the youth. "Is that you, really? Welcome! welcome! I am delighted to see you!"
And he seized Le by both hands, and shook them heartily.
"When did you get home?" he continued, in the same cordial tone.
"Only this morning," answered Le, trying to command himself, for the sudden sight of Odalite"s father and the jubilant cordiality of his address nearly upset the poor fellow"s balance.
Had his uncle no feeling, knowing, as he must know, that he, Le, had come home joyfully expecting to marry Odalite, only to meet with a bitter disappointment?
"Come into the parlor! Come into the parlor! It is too cold out here! You look quite blue! Come in, and let"s get a better view of you!" continued Mr. Force, leading the way into the house, followed by Le.
In the hall he threw off his riding coat, drew off his long, India rubber boots, and then entered the parlor, which was on the opposite side from Mrs. Force"s sitting room.