Laurie Meredith drew a long sigh of relief, and bent tenderly over
Flower.
"My darling, shall it be as she says? Will you indeed be mine?" he
questioned, tenderly.
She trembled and shrunk away.
"I can not make my sister wretched. Ah, Laurie, if you have indeed made
love to her, as she declares, will you not go back to her and try to
love her again? She will forgive you this if you beg her very hard. And
she is so beautiful it will be easy to love her again."
He tried to explain to her that he had never been in love with Jewel
at all, and that he had never made love to her--unless she counted a
few pretty compliments and tender glances as words of love. She found
it easy to believe him, since her own observations tended to prove the
truthfulness of his words.
"I will own that I might have loved her if I had never met you, my
darling," he said. "She is very beautiful and charming, but, Flower,
you are my queen."
The fair face flushed rosily at his words, but she held herself aloof
from his embrace.
"Poor Jewel!" she murmured, in the tones of a pitying angel. "Ah,
Laurie, perhaps if I would go away somewhere you might learn to love
her after all!"
"So you do not care for me, Flower? Then it is a pity I ever saw you. I
wish that I had given my heart to your sister; then my love might have
been appreciated," the young man sighed, dejectedly; and his sorrow
went to her tender heart. Very timidly she laid her hand on his arm.
"I do care for you," she said, in flute-like tones, through which ran a
tremor of deep tenderness. "But, ah, my poor sister! I am so sorry for
her disappointment!"
"She will soon get over it," he said, drawing her to his breast and
kissing the lovely, tremulous lips.
"Do you think so?" she whispered, anxiously.
"Certainly, my darling. I dare say she has got over it already, since
she forced me so coolly to make choice between you two. She will be
ready to laugh with you to-night at the thought of your being actually
engaged to be married."
"If I thought so I would say 'yes' at once; but I am almost afraid.
Fancy one's sister being in love with one's husband!" Flower said,
doubtfully and distressedly.
He laughed at her fears.
"Nonsense! Jewel has too much good sense to go on caring for me now.
Her fancy will soon blow over," he said; and then he clasped and kissed
her again with a passionate fervor.
"I shall call on your mother to-morrow," he said.
"And in the meantime, darling, wear this ring to remind you that you
belong to Laurie."
He slipped the diamond ring from his finger and placed it on hers, and
in a few moments they parted, and Flower sped swiftly homeward.
The sun was setting, and Jewel was on the front porch alone, making a
lovely picture among the clematis vines in her white dress and scarlet
sash. Her face looked so calm and indifferent that lovely little Flower
took heart to ask, timidly:
"Do you love him yet, Jewel, or can you forget him now since everything
has proved different from what you believed?"
"I despise him!" Jewel answered, vindictively; and Flower faltered,
hopefully:
"Then you will not care if I become engaged to him, dear sister?"
"No. Why should I care? He is nothing to me! If you choose to take
a heartless flirt for your husband, and run the risk of having him
desert you for some other fair face, as he deserted me for you, why,
you have my consent!" Jewel answered, proudly, and with such well-acted
carelessness that Flower told herself that her lover was right. Jewel
would soon forget her disappointment.
She hung around her sister several moments, but Jewel took no notice,
and at length Flower asked, timidly:
"Where is mamma?"
"She has gone over to Mammy Maria's house," Jewel replied, composedly.
"Why did she go?"
"Sam came to tell her that his wife had had some sort of a stroke and
was dying. She kept calling for mamma, saying that she had a secret
to tell her before she died, so she went at once," Jewel answered,
speaking as indifferently as if the dying woman had been a stranger,
instead of the devoted nurse whose ample breast had pillowed her
childish years with tenderer care than she had ever received from her
half-demented mother.
But Flower began to sob piteously for her poor old mammy, begging Jewel
to go with her to her bedside.
"I would not go for a kingdom! I'm afraid of a dying person. I never
saw any one die in my life. And you can not go, either, for mamma said
you must stay here with me!" Jewel answered, selfishly.