“Darrell, you fill the glasses now while I tell these señoritas what sort of a black sheep Doña Josefa thinks you are, and so thinking, objects to you.” Clarence proceeded to put ice into the glasses, while George continued: “The objection is, that she believes the Darrells are ‘squatters,’ like all the others at the rancho, whereas Clarence bought their land from Don Mariano and paid for it even before they built their house.”
“Oh! I am so glad to hear that!” Elvira exclaimed with a sigh of relief. “But why don't papa tell it to mamma? It is an injustice to the Darrells to let her ignore it.”
“It is my fault, Mrs. Mechlin,” Clarence said; “my father holds the accepted but very erroneous popular opinions about ‘squatter rights,’ and I, to avoid painful discussions with him, requested Señor Alamar not to say, for the present, that I had paid for the land.”
“You see, little sister, how, after all, you have not been loving a squatter? What a pity,” said George, putting his arm around Mercedes, who buried her face in the lappels of his coat. “It isn't half so romantic to love a plain gentleman as to love a brigand, or, at least, a squatter.”
“Doña Josefa's objection to me is perfectly proper and correct. I would not let a daughter of mine marry a squatter no more than to marry a tramp. I shall, of course, request Don Mariano to put me right in her estimation, and tell her I do not feel authorized by Congress to steal land, though my father and many other honest men hold different opinions about it.”
“There! Do you hear that? Let us have a bumper, and drown the squatter in champagne! Exit tramp! Enter gentleman! Here is to Baby's health,” said George.
All emptied their glasses, except Mercedes, whose hand shook so violently that she spilled more wine than she drank.
“Don't lose your courage now,” Elvira said to her.
“I believe pussy is regretting she lost her squatter. Isn't that so, pussy? You have not said one word. Are you regretting that, after all, you cannot sacrifice to love your patrician pride by marrying a land-shark, thus proving you are a heroine?”
“Oh, what a silly boy,” she said, laughing.