"
"You speak of him as if he were your mistress, Major Dunwoodie,"
observed the smiling spinster, glancing her eye at her niece, who sat
pale and listening, in a corner of the room.
"I love him as one," cried the excited youth. "But he requires care and
nursing; all now depends on the attention he receives."
"Trust me, sir, he will want for nothing under this roof."
"Pardon me, dear madam; you are all that is benevolent, but Singleton
requires a care which many men would feel to be irksome. It is at
moments like these, and in sufferings like this, that the soldier most
finds the want of female tenderness." As he spoke, he turned his eyes on
Frances with an expression that again thrilled to the heart of his
mistress; she rose from her seat with burning cheeks, and said,--
"All the attention that can with propriety be given to a stranger, will
be cheerfully bestowed on your friend."
"Ah!" cried the major, shaking his head, "that cold word propriety will
kill him; he must be fostered, cherished, soothed."
"These are offices for a sister or a wife."
"A sister!" repeated the soldier, the blood rushing to his own face
tumultuously; "a sister! He has a sister; and one that might be here
with to-morrow's sun." He paused, mused in silence, glanced his eyes
uneasily at Frances, and muttered in an undertone, "Singleton requires
it, and it must be done.
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