"In Heaven's name, Miss Horton," he exclaimed, "what would you insinuate; surely nothing against the honor of—"
"I insinuate nothing, Mr. Margrave," answered Adelaide. "I simply tell you that the—the person of whom you speak is no companion for me. Whatever friendship, once existed between us is henceforth forever at an end—Cora Leslie is a slave!"
A choking sensation had risen to the throat of the young engineer during this speech. Unutterable anguish had possessed him at the thought that he perhaps was about to hear of some stain upon the character of Cora. What, then, was his relief at finding how much he had wronged her purity, even by that fear?
"A slave!" he replied.
"Yes; African blood flows in her veins. She has never been emancipated; she is, therefore, as much a slave as the negroes upon her father's plantation."
"I was led to believe something to this effect on the very night of your aunt's ball in Grosvenor Square, Miss Horton. So far from this circumstance lessening my respect for Miss Leslie, I feel that it is rather exalted thereby into a sentiment of reverence. She is no longer simply a beautiful woman; she henceforth becomes the lovely representative of an oppressed people."
"Your opinions are rather Quixotic, Mr. Margrave," replied Adelaide, with a sneer; "and I fear you will find yourself almost in as painful a position as the Spanish knight, if you venture to make them known in New Orleans."
"Whatever danger I may incur of being either ridiculed or persecuted, I shall never conceal my detestation of prejudice and tyranny, and my sympathy with the weak," answered Gilbert proudly. "Pardon me, if I speak warmly on this subject, Miss Horton; it is not to be supposed that you and I should think alike. We represent the opposite sides of the Atlantic."
"Nay, Mr. Margrave," replied Adelaide, whose brief outburst of anger had passed like a thunder cloud in a sunny sky, "it is I who should ask pardon. I fear I am a passionate and heartless creature, but I cannot help feeling some indignation against Mr. Leslie for the cheat he has put on us."
Adelaide Horton scarcely dared own to herself that it was jealousy of Gilbert's evident partiality for Cora, rather than anger against the young girl herself, that had been the cause of her cruel words.