That Georgia must have reached the city he knew full well, for with his own eyes he had seen the Sterling Castle in the harbor.
If that were not evidence quite sufficient here was Jerome as big as life, sauntering about the plaza, the object of adoration on the part of the whole female population, and of malice, envy and black hatred on the part of the military beaux who saw in this Adonis a rival to be feared.
Roderic mentally pictured the inevitable outcome and in anticipation enjoyed Jerome's downfall.
"He will discover it a different matter flirting with the daughters of Porto Rico. I am ready to swear my dandy Lord High Admiral will ere long find himself ducked in some fragrant frog pond, if no greater evil befalls him," was what Owen concluded.
Nor was he a particle sorry, since Jerome had long played the heartless role of an adventurer, and many had suffered because of his belief that the world owed him a living.
The evening wore on, and Roderic began to imagine he was doomed to disappointment.
Lovely faces he had seen, but not the one for which his heart yearned.
Some of the ladies wore veils, their exceeding modesty preventing them from showing their faces in such a mixed assemblage, a custom that undoubtedly descended from royal blood desirous of being distinguished from the plebeian.
Still Roderic had full assurance that his eyes could discover the girl he loved, even though she stood among a score of veiled companions—there is an individuality in the carriage, little peculiarities about the movement of hands and head that appeal to the keen eye of Love, and cannot be mistaken.
So Roderic, wise man, reasoned, as with a single glance he decided that this one or that was not Georgia.