How an old
soldier--"
"I am only thirty-five, and haven't a white hair."
"You look old," she said, "and that's the same thing. How so careful a
manager, so distinguished a--"
The horrible part of all this was her evident intention to rouse a
sense of honor in his soul which she thought extinct.
"--so distinguished a man as you are, Thaddeus," she resumed after a
momentary pause which a gesture of his hand had led her to make, "can
allow yourself to be caught like a boy! Your proceedings have made
that woman celebrated. My uncle wanted to see her, and he did see her.
My uncle is not the only one; Malaga receives a great many gentlemen.
I did think you such a noble soul. For shame! Will she be such a loss
that you can't replace her?"
"Madame, if I knew any sacrifice I could make to recover your esteem I
would make it; but to give up Malaga is not one--"
"In your position, that is what I should say myself, if I were a man,"
replied Clementine. "Well, if I accept it as a great sacrifice there
can be no ill-will between us."
Paz left the room, fearing he might commit some great folly, and
feeling that wild ideas were getting the better of him. He went to
walk in the open air, lightly dressed in spite of the cold, but
without being able to cool the fire in his cheeks or on his brow.
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