“You are old, Colonel Van Curter, and you do not know a woman’s heart, after all. I tell you that I have made woman a study; they claim to be influenced by personal beauty in man; but, put them to the test, and you will find that, after all, the most beautiful women make a choice of men who, though plain in person, are the only ones who can find the road to their hearts.”
“In truth, you may be right; but you may be the one who has the key to Theresa’s heart. You shall be, by heaven!”
“Would you force her to marry me against her inclination?”
“I would keep my word to your father, even if I had to use force.”
“I would not have her upon such terms,” said the young man. “She must be mine entirely, heart and hand; if it can not be so, I renounce her hand, and apply myself to the task of taking worthy vengeance upon the man who has dared to step in between me and the love of the woman I prize highest. I know him, I thank God. He can not escape me. Where is Theresa?”
“She has retired.”
“There will be a meeting, I am sure, between her and this Yankee. We must watch.”
“This is the work of Bainbridge; he has gone between them, carried letter after letter, and been the means of making her fancy stronger; he, too, has something which will draw him back to this place.”
“What is that?”