Instinctively she knew why she was sent for, and turning white as marble, she begged her cousin to go with her. But ’Lena refused, soothing the agitated girl, and begging her to be calm. “You’ve only to be decided,” said she, “and it will soon be over. Captain Atherton, I am sure, will not insist when he sees how repugnant to your feelings it is.” But Anna knew her own weakness—she could never say, in her mother’s presence, what she felt—and trembling like an aspen, she descended the stairs, meeting in the lower hall her brother, who asked what was the matter. “Oh, John, John,” she cried, “Captain Atherton is in there with mother, and they have sent for me. What shall I do?” “Be a woman,” answered John Jr. “Tell him _no_ in good broad English, and if the old fellow insists, I’ll blow his brains out!” But the Captain did not insist. He was too cunning for that, and when, with a burst of tears, Anna told him she could not be his wife because she loved another, he said, good-humoredly, “Well, well, never mind spoiling those pretty blue eyes. I’m not such an old savage as you think me. So we’ll compromise the matter this way. If you really love Malcolm, why, marry him, and on your bridal day I’ll make you a present of a nice little place I have in Frankfort; but if, on the other hand, Malcolm proves untrue, you must promise to have me. Come, that’s a fair bargain. What do you say?” “Malcolm will never prove untrue,” answered Anna. “Of course not,” returned the captain. “So you are safe in promising.’ “But what good will it do you?” queried Anna. “No good, in particular,” said the captain. “It’s only a whim of mine, to which I thought you might perhaps agree, in consideration of my offer.” “I do—I will,” said Anna, thinking the captain not so bad after all. “There’s mischief somewhere, and I advise you to watch,” said John Jr., when he learned from Anna the result of the interview.