"Why do you insist that he loves
me?" she asked. "All Mexicans are gallant and pay absurd
compliments. It's just a way they have. He has never spoken a word
that could give offense." As Dolores said nothing, she went on,
hesitatingly, "I can't very well refuse to see him, for I don't
possess even a receipt to show that he took those cattle."
"Oh, you must not offend him," Dolores agreed, hastily, "or we'd
never leave Mexico alive." With which cheering announcement the
housekeeper heaved a deep sigh and went about her duties with a
gloomy face.
Longorio arrived that afternoon, and Alaire received him in the
great naked living room of the hacienda, with her best attempt at
formality. But her coolness served not in the least to chill his
fervor.
"Senora," he cried, eagerly, "I have a thousand things to tell
you, things of the greatest importance. They have been upon my
tongue for hours, but now that I behold you I grow drunk with
delight and my lips frame nothing but words of admiration for your
beauty. So! I feast my eyes." He retained his warm clasp of her
fingers, seeming to envelop her uncomfortably with his ardor.
"What is it you have to tell me?" she asked him, withdrawing her
hand.
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