And so
she resolved in her own mind that Marian should be made a good and
happy woman;--but always as the wife of Maurice Cumming.
But Maurice turned a deaf ear to all these good tidings--or rather he
turned to them an ear that seemed to be deaf. He dearly, ardently
loved that little flirt; but seeing that she was a flirt, that she
had flirted so grossly when he was by, he would not confess his love
to a human being. He would not have it known that he was wasting his
heart for a worthless little chit, to whom every man was the same--
except that those were most eligible whose toes were the lightest and
their outside trappings the brightest. That he did love her he could
not help, but he would not disgrace himself by acknowledging it.
He was very civil to Mr. Leslie, but he would not speak a word that
could be taken as a proposal for Marian. It had been part of Miss
Jack's plan that the engagement should absolutely be made down there
at Mount Pleasant, without any reference to the young lady; but
Maurice could not be induced to break the ice. So he took Mr. Leslie
through his mills and over his cane-pieces, talked to him about the
laziness of the "niggers," while the "niggers" themselves stood by
tittering, and rode with him away to the high grounds where the
coffee plantation had been in the good old days; but not a word was
said between them about Marian.
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