"
"I did not mistake you for an amazon," returned the young man smiling,
perceiving that she checked her words by a sudden effort. "All I expect
from you is the triumph of reason over female terror. I shall not conceal
that the odds--perhaps I may say that the chances, are against us; and yet
the enemy must pay for my ship, ere he has her! She will be none the worse
defended, Alida, from the consciousness that thy liberty and comfort
depend in some measure on our exertions.--Would you say more?"
La belle Barberie struggled with herself, and she became calm, at least in
exterior.
"There has been a singular misconception between us, and yet is this no
moment for explanations! Ludlow, I would not have you part with me, at
such a time as this, with that cold and reproachful eye!"
She paused When the young man ventured to raise his look, he saw the
beautiful girl standing with a hand extended towards him, as if offering a
pledge of amity; while the crimson on her cheek, and her yielding but
half-averted eye, spoke with the eloquence of maiden modesty. Seizing the
hand, he answered, hastily--
"Time was, when this action would have made me happy--"
The young man paused, for his gaze had unconsciously become riveted on the
rings of the hand he held. Alida understood the look, and, drawing one of
the jewels, she offered it with a smile that was as attractive as her
beauty.
"One of these may be spared," she said.
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