"He is enraged at Congress and he has long felt persecuted and insulted by the people. He desires a command in the navy and has already written Washington to that effect; and again he would petition Congress for a grant of land in New York where he would retire to private life, for he vows he never will again draw sword on the American side."
"Did he say this?" asked Stephen.
"He did."
"Do you think that he was sincere?"
"I really do. He talked with all the earnestness of a man of conviction. Somehow or other I greatly mistrust him. And he is extremely bigoted."
"I rather suspect this, although I have had no proofs of it. If he is, it will out very soon."
"And you may be assured, too, that he will have an able adjutant in Peggy. She is his counterpart in every particular."
He looked at her as she spoke, and was amazed by the excitement in her face. She talked excitedly; her eyes, those large vivacious brown eyes that looked out of her pretty oval face, were alight, and her face had gone pale.
"I was interested in them last evening and with the apparent zeal displayed by Peggy's mother in favor of the match. I would not be surprised to hear of an announcement from that source at any time."
"Has it reached that stage?"