"How did you learn all this, Wilkins?"
"She told it to me herself."
"But her Northern friends, they may have grown rich by this time."
"No. She told me her father's family consisted only of his parents and one deformed brother. When he was making a fortune so rapidly here, I believe he received a letter from this brother, stating that he was coming on to try his fortune here, too. But Mr. Duverne, Blanche's father, wrote back to discourage his intentions, for he seemed to think it was too long a journey for one so helpless as he.
They never heard from the brother again; for, soon after, Mr. Duverne died, and the state of his affairs became known, and all intercourse between the families ceased."
"And they never knew whether he came here or not?"
"Oh, he of course never came, or they would have heard of him, you know."
"Is Blanche French?"
"By the name, you see she is of French descent; and she speaks the language like a native born Francaise; however, her mother was purely American, and her father never spoke a word of French in all his life. She has acquired it by mingling, no doubt, with the Creoles here."
"You speak it yourself, Mr. Wilkins?"