Mother, at last speaking, broke the spell that bound me.
“Carlotta, darling, Col. Smith told you of the letter he received from your father’s agent in Havana, did he not?”
“He told me of it, and also showed me the letter. Papa always thought his agent very trusty, and I suppose Col. Smith will find everything arranged properly.”
After another pause, mother asked again:
“Who is this cousin who claims the estate?”
“He is mother’s half nephew. He was always a great favorite with papa, and staid almost half his time with us, though his home was on the other side of the island. Papa used to promise him, when I was a very little girl, that I should be his wife, but he was so much older than I, I could never love him.”
Though my fealty to Lulie was unchanged, I could not help thinking what a splendid thing it would be to have the promise of such a love as hers.
“But,” continued mother, shaking the dew from a flower as she placed it with the others, “would you not marry him when you are grown, to get back so much wealth and riches. Remember, he has your father’s will, making him the sole heir in case of your death, and he has also the affidavit of the captain of the vessel in which you sailed, that yourself and father were both lost, and could not possibly have been saved.”
“I would despise him,” she said, scornfully, snapping a stem as she spoke, “if he tried to get anything wrongfully. But Col. Smith has all papa’s papers with him, and Cousin Herrara is too noble, I know, to do anything mean or sordid!”