"
"It would probably take that period of time to make us as well
acquainted under other circumstances."
"I wish you were going to be with us always. Shall you stay in America,
Mr. Raleigh?"
"Only till the fall. But I will leave you at your father's door"----
And then Mr. Raleigh ceased suddenly, as if he had promised an
impossibility.
"How long before we reach New York?" she asked.
"In about nine hours," he replied,--adding, in unconscious undertone,
"if ever."
"What was that you said to yourself?" she asked, in a light and gayly
inquisitive voice, as she looked around and over the ship. "Why, how
many there are on deck! It is such a beautiful night, I suppose. Eh,
Mr. Raleigh?"
"Are you not tired of your position?" he asked. "Sit down beside me
here." And he took a seat.
"No, I would rather stand. Tell me what you said."
"Sit, then, to please me, Marguerite, and I will tell you what I said."
She hesitated a moment, standing before him, the hood of her capote,
with its rich purple, dropping from the fluttering yellow hair that the
moonlight deepened into gold, and the fire-opal clasp rising and falling
with her breath, like an imprisoned flame.
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