“It was extremely kind and brave of you,” she said, “and I am quite sure I should have been off if you had not come to my assistance. Thank you—very much.”
The words were right enough—well chosen and gracefully spoken—and yet there was something in the tone in which they were said that jarred upon Esmeralda, and caused her to raise her head almost defiantly and resentfully.
The tone was cold, almost icily so, the manner that of an empress graciously thanking an inferior.
“That horse is too much for you,” she said, with the faint drawl which had always brought her subjects at Three Star to their knees. “I should advise you to sell him.”
The lady smiled. One knows the smile so well; half amused, half contemptuous, and cutting as a whip.
“Thank you for your advice—as well as your assistance,” she said, with a faint lisp. “Shall we go on?”
The gentleman started slightly; then he leaned forward, and murmured to Esmeralda, “Thank you, once more,” and the two rode away.
And Esmeralda stood looking after them, little guessing that she had met the man and the woman who were to work the happiness and the misery of her life!