"You are free, Fannie, and you are very pretty, and all that; and you might look a great deal higher than that," would say Madam Leroux.
"Think, ma fille, if you take him, you will always have yourself and your family to support, for you never can have any help from a slave husband"—thus Monsieur Leroux.
"Consider, mon enfant, if you marry him, he may be sold away next year, or next month, even! How would you like that?" thus Madam Leroux.
And Fannie would blush, or smile, or pout, or drop a tear, or say to herself:
"Poor Valley! Maybe something may happen to set him free! Maybe I might work hard, and save money enough to"—she could not bring herself to say buy—"ransom him! And, anyhow, it is not his fault if he is not free. And it must be hard enough, the dear knows, to be as he is, without my letting him think that it makes any difference to me."
Obstacles and objections which, to cooler-hearted and clearer-headed people would seem very formidable, if not entirely conclusive, were but slight impediments in the way of these humble lovers.
Long courtships and protracted engagements are not common among quadroons, and in this case were not favored by Valentine. He had won little Fannie's heart and consent to speak to her employers, who, having advised her against the match, and holding no authority to go further in their opposition, gave a reluctant consent, with their good wishes and blessing.
Valentine had, all through the courtship, the hearty approbation of Phædra; and, lastly, he had none but his master to consult.
Mr. Waring rallied Valentine unmercifully upon his intended marriage; swore that, seriously, it was a pity such a fine young fellow as himself, who was such a favorite among the girls, should leave his gay bachelor's life, to tie himself down to a wife and family; asked him what he should do for kid gloves and perfumery, if he had to give all his pocket money to Fannie and the children; and finally made him a wedding present of a hundred dollars, and advised him to go out and hang himself.
In the following Christmas holidays, the slaves' annual Saturnalia in the South, the marriage of Valentine and Fannie took place. A mad marriage it was, where the bride had no dower and the bridegroom not even the ownership of his own limbs to work for their support. An impossible marriage it would seem, had it not really taken place, and did we not know, for a certainty, that such marriages between the free and the enslaved frequently took place.