Alarmed at this information, the old gentleman went at once to see De Vere; and finding he was only badly wounded, by the consent of the physician, had him removed from the brig to his own house.
So occupied was Don Velasquez with attending on the sick captain, that for a day or two he neglected to call on “Brewster,” though he was constantly endeavoring to think of some method by which he could express the gratitude he felt for the preservation of his beloved daughter; and he wondered why “Brewster” had not again been to the house.
On the third day, however, his sense of duty not permitting him longer to neglect one to whom he was under such great obligations, he went out to see the captain of the schooner, and was surprised to find the vessel had left the port.
Feeling vexed and mortified with himself that he had not more promptly called upon “Brewster;” and believing his unceremonious departure was occasioned by his own lack of proper attentions, he returned home, and told his daughters of the disappointment he had met.
Clara, whose pride was hurt, that one to whom the family were indebted had been permitted thus to depart, with the obligation unrequited, freely expressed her sorrow. Francisca said very little, nothing more than was absolutely necessary, but felt far, far more than either of them.
Pleased by the favorable impression Willis had made upon Clara, and knowing that her father would naturally feel kindly toward one who had rendered her such valuable service, she had been permitting herself to indulge in pleasant visions of the future, in which she saw every thing “couleur de rose,” and a happy consummation to her heart’s passion.
These bright day-dreams were now all dispelled; and with a sad heart she retired to the privacy of her chamber, to mourn over her hard lot; for she thought “if Brewster had cared any thing for me, he would at least have said, adieu, before leaving, perhaps for ever.”
De Vere, knowing the obligations Don Velasquez was under to Willis, had, from a gentlemanly feeling, refrained from telling him that Captain “Brewster, of the Portuguese navy,” was no other than Willis, the notorious slaver, and the person who had so nearly killed him; but when the old gentleman told him of “Brewster’s” sudden departure, he apparently suffered so much from mortification and self reproach, that De Vere thought it would relieve his mind to know the true character of the person in whom he took so much interest; he therefore told him, giving Willis, not his true character, but the false one public report had fastened upon him.
Don Manuel listened to this narrative with varying emotions. At first he could not credit it, so much was Willis’s appearance, manners, and air distingué, at variance with his calling; but De Vere insisted upon the correctness of his statement, and then the Don was sorry, that one fitted to move in so much more elevated a sphere, had no higher ambition or aim.
Upon the whole, however, Don Velasquez’s wounded self-esteem was soothed; for though the obligation was in reality the same as before, believing, now, that Willis’s mind must necessarily be sordid and base, he thought money would liquidate the debt, and he would still have an opportunity of acknowledging it. In the other case, with a high-minded and gentlemanly man, as he had supposed him to be, courtesies and attentions were the only return he could have made; and to do this he had lost the opportunity.