“Ah, Lora! I did not tell you when I came home from England, wife, for I did not want to hear any jibes and gainsaying”—
“Oh, Myles, do I jibe at you?”
“Well, no,—no Bab, not jibes; but you know, lass, we never were quite of a mind about the Standish dignities”—
“Dear heart, we have left all that behind us in the Old World! Here we Standishes have dignity and observance in full measure, because we belong to thee, love. Captain Standish, head of the colony’s strong men, is the founder of a new race in this New World.”
“Nay, nay, Barbara, you talk but as a woman, and you never did rise up to the lawful pride of your birth”—
And the captain all unconsciously put his wife off his knee, and rising, strode up and down the room, tugging at his red beard, and frowning portentously. Barbara, her hands folded in her lap, and a sad smile upon her lips, sat watching him.
“It is as well to tell you now as to keep it for years,” broke out the captain suddenly. “Nothing will change it, that is, nothing but Alexander’s death”—
“Alexander’s death! Not our boy, Myles!”
“No, no, no, child! Alexander, son of my cousin Ralph Standish of Standish Hall. When I was in England I went to see him as I told you.”
“Yes, dear.”