“That’s easy—she’s engaged herself to Ramon.”
“What?” Her shriek of horror and surprise caused Betty and Terrubio to look back. Her next question showed the keenness of her intuition. “Why, whatever did you do to her?”
He told—of his anger, jealousy, pique, attempt to soothe his ruffled vanity by flirting with Felicia. He told all with candor and humorous insight into his own feelings that robbed the narrative of conceit. He told even of the kiss and that Lee had seen it. “Though I don’t see how that could have anything to do with her engagement, for she announced it the next second.”
“She sent him off within the next hour—with only a kiss of her hand—hasn’t seen him since—nor communicated with him till the other day—has looked like a frightened bird ever since.” She told off the items with amused contempt. “How stupid men are! Why, it is plain as day. He asked her to marry him, yes, on the way. How could she escape after the way she had flirted? But she had either refused or held him off. But when she saw you kiss—”
“My God!” It burst on him. “What a fool I am! Why did I—”
“Don’t blame, yourself. She was more in fault. The question is—not what is done, but what to do.”
“I had thought, at first, of quitting this to join Valles. It would be lots of fun and I was so darned mad—”
“And leave her to him?” She looked a little scornful. “Why—”
But he cut in. “You bet I won’t! He’ll never marry her—if I have to carry her off.”
“And I’d help you do it,” she warmly declared. “At present Ramon is all right, and if you could put up, like preserves, so he’d keep, it wouldn’t be so bad. Yes, he’s all right—but, so are the young of any kind, a lamb or kid, little frog, tiny snake, and there’s nothing cuter in the whole world than a baby pig. But after it grows up—good Lord deliver us!