She. His amusement may even amount to astonishment, perhaps; and, by the way, that gentleman on the gray horse, just coming between the China laurels with papa, expects to marry me.
He. Fred Armstrong, by all that is unspeakable! Agnes Peltonville, I humble myself in the dust before you; and no humiliation could be greater than going down into Cuban dust. You are an angel; you have removed my last fear.
She. Yes; and how?
He. I was always jealous of Fred Armstrong; he was forever dangling about Annie. Do I understand that you are engaged?
She. Oh, I didn’t say that I expected to marry him; but since Annie confesses such a strong attachment to you—
He. Oh, I didn’t say I was the object of the attachment.
[They sit confronting each other in silence a moment, until the riders, having dismounted, are seen approaching the piazza. Then Chester leans forward impulsively, and speaks with a new intensity.]
He. Agnes!
She. Arthur!
He. Quick! Before they come! You won’t send me away?