She seemed to be constantly in a
dreamy and moody state, and avoided all her former haunts and
companions. A skilful observer might have told her the cause of all
this, and yet, strange to say, so blind did her pride render her,
that she could not see, or at least never acknowledged even to
herself, that the absent soldier had aught to do with it.
Had not Isabella Gonzales treated Lorenzo Bezan as she did at their
last meeting, he would never have accepted the governor-general's
pardon on the terms offered, nor life itself, if it separated him
from her he loved. But as it was, he seemed to feel that life had
lost its charm, ambition its incentive for him, and he cast himself
forth upon the troubled waters without compass or rudder. And it was
precisely in this spirit that he found himself upon the deck of the
vessel, whose white wings were wafting him now across the ocean.
He, too, was misanthropic and unhappy; he tried to reason with
himself that Isabella Gonzales was not worthy to render him thus
miserable; that she was a coquette-an unfeeling, though beautiful
girl; that even had he succeeded, and fortune favored him in his
love, she would not have loved him its his heart craved to be loved.
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