"Have you resided long in Spain?" asked Maria.
"Very many years," was the reply, "ever since I came from Mexico, when I was a mere boy."
Maria looked down upon the path, and fell into deep thought, while the stranger went on to say--
"I have travelled in other countries, it is true; but Spain I look upon almost as my native land."
She made no answer, but still walked with her eyes bent down; and the stranger gazed at her unobserved, with evident admiration; and well indeed he might, for in whatever lands he had rambled he could not have seen anything more lovely. After a brief pause, however, as she still remained silent, he said--
"By-the-way, I have Marston's letter in my pocket-book, and may as well deliver it at once, to prove to you that your kind courtesy, Miss Monkton, is shown to a gentleman."
"Oh! I do not doubt it in the least," replied Maria, looking up brightly; and then she added in a very marked tone, "I never doubt--I never have doubted or suspected in my life."
The stranger looked full into her eyes, and then he in turn fell into a fit of thought. An instant after, he roused himself with a start, and taking out his pocket-book produced the letter he had mentioned.
Maria took it, and read merely the address--"Miss Monkton, by the hands of Colonel Francis Middleton."
"I will read his epistle by-and-by, Colonel Middleton," said Maria, stumbling a little at the name. "Have you known my cousin Charles long?"