Neither Alaire nor her companion, however,
had the least idea how keenly he resented the presence of Paloma
Jones. Ed Austin's absence he had half expected, and he had wildly
hoped for an evening, an hour, a few moments, alone with the
object of his desires. Jose's disclosures, earlier in the day, had
opened the general's eyes; they had likewise inflamed him with
jealousy and with passion, and accordingly he had come prepared to
force his attentions with irresistible fervor should the slightest
opportunity offer. To find Alaire securely chaperoned, therefore,
and to be compelled to press his ardent advances in the presence
of a third party, was like gall to him; the fact that he made the
most of his advantages, even at the cost of scandalizing Paloma,
spoke volumes for his determination.
It was a remarkable wooing; on the one hand this half-savage man,
gnawed by jealousy, heedless of the illicit nature of his passion,
yet held within the bounds of decorum by some fag-end of
respectability; and on the other hand, a woman, bored, resentful,
and tortured at the moment by fear about what was happening at the
river-bank.
Alaire, too, had a further cause for worry.
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