“But Virginia is only nominally in the Union. In a very few weeks she will be out of it, by the unanimous voice of her people, heard through their representatives in the Assembly.” “Fiddle! Virginia go out of the Union by the unanimous voice of her people, indeed! I am one of her people! and I would die before I would utter one syllable in favor of secession! My pap and two unks and a host of our friends are loyal Virginians who would shed the last drop of their blood in defense of this glorious Union of States that makes us one of the mightiest powers among the nations of the earth! And if Virginia is ever voted out of the Union, it will never be by the unanimous voice of her people, or even by the will of the majority of her people!” “I tell you you are mistaken! Virginia and Maryland, too, will follow the glorious example of their chivalric sister, South Carolina, who——” “Albert Goldsborough, I am not going to stand here all day long, listening to you; I warn you that Dr. Rosenthal is loyal to his heart’s core; so loyal that he does not suspect and could not understand disloyalty in any man! He is as innocent now as I was an hour ago of the plots going on under his own roof. If he knew of them he would denounce them instantly!” “What! is not Dr. Rosenthal a Secessionist?” demanded Albert, in consternation. “No, sir!” “Nor your father, nor your uncles?” “No.” “Elfrida, you have played a very treacherous part with me. You have pretended to be one of us; you have made false statements in regard to your persecutions in the cause of secession, and you have drawn out my confidence, only to turn upon me,” said Albert, bitterly. “Anything more?” inquired Elfie. “Is not that enough?” demanded Albert. “Yes, but I would like to hear the whole charge before replying to it. Is that the whole charge?” “Yes.” “Then I deny it _in toto_. I have played no treacherous part by you. I never pretended to be one of you. It was yourself who took it for granted that I must be a Secessionist. I made no false statements about my persecutions in the cause of secession. I told you that our house was burned over our heads, and we had to escape for our lives. And you jumped to the conclusion that the outrage was perpetrated by the Unionists of our neighborhood. I did not seek to draw your confidence out. You bestowed it upon me freely. If I turn upon you now, it is as a loyal heart turns upon a rebel.” “Elfrida, I won’t stand this!” hotly exclaimed her lover. “Then if you won’t ‘stand’ it, you had better walk it. Marry you, indeed! Not if I know it. Gammon! If I were fool enough to marry you this week, why, next week, or next month you might secede from me!” “Elfrida, I will not bear this!” exclaimed Albert, stamping. “Then don’t. There is no reason why you should. You know the way out of the house into the street, and you are at liberty to take it. I strongly advise you to do so,” said Elfrida.