A dark, savage expression flitted over Ratcliff’s face as he thought of the turn which his wife, aided by Winslow, had served him; but he checked the ire which was rising to his lips, and replied: “Let me beg you not to cherish an unprofitable delusion, my dear Miss Murray. When this war terminates, as it inevitably will, in the triumph of the South, one of the conditions of peace which we shall impose on the North will be, that all claims resulting out of slavery, either through the abduction of slaves or the transfer of property held as theirs, shall be settled by the fullest indemnification to masters. In that event your little property, which Mr. Winslow thinks he has hid safely away beyond my recovery, will be surely reached and returned to me, the lawful owner.”
“Well, sir,” replied Clara, forcing a calmness at which she herself was surprised, “supposing, what I do not regard as probable, that the South will have its own way in this war, and that my title to all property will be set aside as superseded by yours, let me inform you that I have a friend who will come to my aid, and make you the fullest compensation for all the expense you have been at on my account.”
“Indeed! Is there any objection to my knowing to what friend you allude?”
“None at all, sir. Madame Volney is that friend.”
“Well, we will not discuss that point now,” said Ratcliff, smiling incredulously as he thought how speedily a few blandishments from him would overcome any resolution which the lady referred to might form. “My plans for you, Miss Murray, are all honorable, and such as neither you nor the world can regard as other than generous. Consider what I might do if I were so disposed! I could put you up at auction to-morrow and sell you to some brute of a fellow who would degrade and misuse you. Instead of that, what do I propose? First let me speak a few words of myself. I am, it is true, considerably your senior, but not old, and not ill-looking, if I may believe my glass. My property, already large, will be enormous the moment the war is over. I have bought within the last six months, at prices almost nominal, over a thousand slaves, whose value will be increased twenty-fold with the return of peace. My position in the new Confederacy will be among the foremost. Already President Davis has assured me that whatever I may ask in the way of a new foreign mission I can have. Thus the lady who may link her fate with mine will be a welcome guest at all the courts of Europe. If she is beautiful, her beauty will be admired by princes, kings, and emperors. If she is intellectual, all the wits and great men of London and Paris will be ambitious to make her acquaintance. Now what do you think I propose for you?”
“Let me not disguise my knowledge,” replied Clara, looking him in the face till he dropped his eyelids. “You propose that I should be your wife.”
“Ah! Josephine has told you, then, has she? And what did you say to it?”
“I said I could never say yes to such a proposition from a man who claimed me as a slave.”
“But what if I forego my claim, and give you free papers?”
“Try it,” said Clara, sternly.