DUV. What of it?
BELLA. Pirates are men.
PED. (smilingly and yet on the alert.) Does Miss Bella know any of them?
DUV. (angrily, to Bella.) I will tell you this much: that if ever the nosing Britishers get into New Orleans, it will be by the aid of the pirates. This is no time to compromise with banditti.
PED. (indulgently, protectingly and probingly.) Miss Bella spoke in ignorance. She can have no sympathy for pirates. (Duval and others discuss in pantomime at back.)
BELLA. (impulsively.) She can have—
PED. (in Bella’s pause; watchfully.) A lover. (bows.)
BELLA. (recovering herself; trivially.) A lover! I promised myself many before I left school. Have you ever been in love, Mr. d’Acosta?
PED. Cruel one!
BELLA. Have you any woman relative whom you remember and love?