Thus they sat in opposite corners.
“Now tell me! When did your ship get into port?”
“Yesterday morning, and I hurried immediately down here to see—to see my—to—to—meet the bitterest disappointment of my life, Uncle Abel!” said the youth, faltering, hesitating, but determined to come to the point at last.
“Oh, come, come! Tut, tut, tut! She was only a child when you went away, if you are referring to Odalite!” said Mr. Force, in a cheery tone.
“Yes, Uncle Abel, I am referring to Odalite, and speaking of the most heartbreaking disappointment that ever crushed a man,” said the youth.
“Nonsense, dear lad! You know nothing of heartbreaking troubles of any sort, or you would not magnify this one! You will get over it in a month.”
“It was the cherished love and hope and faith of years.”
“A dream, my boy, of which this is the awakening. A dream, in which I, too, shared! Le, lad, you must know that I am just as much disappointed as you can be! It was the desire of my life that you and Odalite should marry, and in time succeed us here, and make the two great manors of Mondreer and Greenbushes into one mammoth estate. I am disappointed in this. And if I ever permitted myself to grieve over the inevitable, I should feel very sorry for myself as well as for you!”
“It was so sudden, so unexpected! Why, her last letter to me, received at Spezzia, and written not two months ago, was so kind! She must have changed very quickly,” said poor Le.
“No, I think it must have been gradually. I think she was deeply infatuated before she realized her state. And then I know she struggled, poor, dear child!—struggled until she nearly broke her heart—to keep faithful to you and to please me. It was only from her suitor that I heard at last of her distress. Then, as she meekly left her fate entirely in my hands, I conquered my own ambition and told the child to follow the dictates of her own heart. What else could a father do? But even now, though she has her own way in this matter, she is not content! She frets about you, Le!”