"What was he doing here?" he said coldly. She smiled at him merrily.
"Bidding me good-by. He was made prisoner, of course, by the first soldier we came across after we landed, and has been spending the days of his captivity with us. He was exchanged to-day, and leaves to-night."
"Katharine, he was in love with you!" he said, with what seemed to him marvellous perspicacity.
"Yes, John," she answered, still smiling.
"Was he making love to you here?"
"Yes."
"And you? You praise this man, you like him, you—"
"I think him the bravest man, the truest gentleman in the world—except this one," she said, laying her hand upon his shoulder and her head upon his breast. "No, no; he pleaded in vain. I only pitied him; I loved you. Do not be jealous, foolish boy. No one should have me. I am yours alone."
"But if I had not come back, Kate,—how then?"
"It would have made no difference. I told him so."