“Tell 'em I'd like powerful well to see 'em all, an' I'd have come only—only things was kinder onconvenient. Sometime, perhaps”—
But here he was obliged to clear his throat, as his voice had become extremely husky. And, having done this, he added in an undertone:—
“You see, Esmeraldy, I couldn't, because of mother, as I've swore not to go back on. Wash, he wouldn't go back on you, however high your sperrit was, an' I can't go back on mother.”
The figures of the young couple standing at the side, Monsieur Wash holding his wife to his breast with one strong arm, were the last we saw as the ship moved slowly away.
“It is obscurity to which they are returning,” I said, half unconsciously.
“It is love,” said Clélie.
The father, who had been standing apart, came back to us, replacing in his pocket his handkerchief.
“They are young an' likely, you see,” said Monsieur, “an' life before them, an' it's nat'ral as she should have chose Wash, as was young too, an' sot on her. Lord, it's nat'ral, an' I wouldn't have it no otherways.”