"I want to thank you, Mr. Pegram," she said, eagerly, "for not making a scene. It was very hard on you—the situation, I mean—and you have spared me at every point. Perhaps you had better take your leave now as quickly as you can."
But the young man's courage had completely come back to him, with something of the dare-devil spirit added to it: as the soldier beset, sometimes comes to relish danger for its own sake, and deliberately invites more of it, so Baillie Pegram, knowing perfectly that he had completely outraged the proprieties, as The Oaks ladies interpreted them, was minded to outrage them still further. Having braved the situation to this point, he was determined to brave it out to the end—whatever the end might be. So to the girl's suggestion, he answered:
"But the day is not over yet, and the piazzas of The Oaks fortunately include one with a western aspect. Let us sit there and enjoy the sunset. We'll join the ladies later."
The girl consented, willingly enough. She was already in revolt, for one thing, and she knew that her aunts would not venture again to censure her severely, after what had happened.
"But you must not misunderstand me, Mr. Pegram," she said, as the two seated themselves in the great oaken chairs fabricated on the plantation during colonial times. "I have declared my independence so far as to insist upon my right to treat you with courtesy upon occasion. But you must not suppose that I have forgotten the gulf that lies between us, and especially you must not interpret my attitude to mean that I am disloyal to the memory of my poor father."
"I quite understand," he answered, meditatively and sadly. "You and I are privileged, by your good pleasure, to treat each other with formal courtesy, but I must not in any way presume upon that privilege beyond its intention."
The girl sat silent, looking wistfully out into the glow that had followed the sunset. Finally she said:
"I suppose that is it. It is a hard situation to deal with—for me."
"And for me," the youth replied.
"Yes, for you, too, I suppose. But neither of us is responsible. We must recognise conditions and do the best we can."