Now they
have taken him away from me."
Tears glittered on her lashes, but she brushed them aside angrily, and
continued:
"I was still less than twenty, and looked, they told me, only fourteen,
when Senor Menendez came to inspect his estate. I had never seen him
before. There had been a rising in the island, in the year after I was
born, and he had only just escaped with his life. He was hated. People
called him Devil Menendez. Especially, no woman was safe from him, and
in the old days, when his power had been great, he had used it for
wickedness.
"My father was afraid when he heard he was coming. He would have sent
me away, but before it could be arranged Senor the Colonel arrived. He
had in his company a French lady. I thought her very beautiful and
elegant. It was Madame de Staemer. It is only four years ago, a little
more, but her hair was dark brown. She was splendidly dressed and such
a wonderful horsewoman. The first time I saw her I felt as they had
made me feel at the convent. I wanted to hide from her. She was so
grand a lady, and I came from slaves."
She paused hesitatingly and stared down at her own tiny feet.
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