"
She choked over her words. "It doesn't seem fair. I promised. I wore
your ring. I said that if you saved ... him ... I would marry you.
Manuel, I ... I'll keep faith if you'll take me and be content to wait
for ... that kind of love to grow."
"No, my cousin. I have wooed and lost. Why should you be bound by a
pledge made at such a time? As your heart tells you to do, so you must
do." He added after a pause: "It is this American, is it not?"
Again she nodded twice, not looking at him lest she see the pain in his
eyes.
"I wish you joy, Valencia--a world full of it, so long as life lasts."
He took her fingers in his, and kissed them before he passed lightly to
another subject:
"Have you heard anything yet of the tin box of Mr. Gordon's?"
She accepted the transition gratefully, for she was so moved she was
afraid lest she break down.
"Not yet. It is strange, too, where it has gone. I have had inquiries
made every where."
"For me, I hope it is never found. Why should you feel responsibility to
search for these papers that will ruin you and your tenants?"
"If my men had not attacked and tried to murder him he would still have
his evidence. I seek only to put him in the position he was in before we
injured him."
"You must judge for yourself, Valencia. But, if you don't mind, I shall
continue to wish you failure in your search," he replied.
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