"My queen!" he whispered, as her head bent in half avoidance of his caresses even while her hand clasped his closely, convulsively, "it has all been of no use; those three years when you kept me away. It is fate that we find each other again. I shall never let you go from me--never! Do you hear me, Judithe? You are so silent; but words matter little since you belong to me. Do you realize it?--that you must belong to me always!" The words over which he lingered, words holding all of hope and happiness to him brought to her a swift revulsion of feeling. She remembered those other human creatures who belonged to him--she remembered-- A moment later and he stood alone in the sweet dusk of the night. She had fairly run from him along the little arbor to the side door, where she vanished unseen by the others. How she was for all her queenly ways! What a creature of moods, and passions, and emotions! The hand on which her tear had fallen he touched to his cheek. Why had she wept at his confession of love for her? She had not wept when the same words were spoken on that never-to-be-forgotten day in Paris! CHAPTER XXVII. The love affair of Colonel McVeigh was not the only one under consideration that evening. Delaven was following up the advice of the Judge and Madame Caron to the extent of announcing to Mistress McVeigh during a pause in the dance that his heart was heavy, though his feet were light, and that she held his fate in her hands, for he was madly in love, which statement she had time to consider and digest before the quadrille again allowed them to come close enough for conversation, when she asked the meaning of his mystery. "First, let me know, Mrs. McVeigh, which you would prefer if you had a choice--to have me for your family physician, or a physician in your family?" She smiled at the excentric question, but as the dance whisked him off just then she waited for the next installment of his confidence. "You must tell me, first, what relationship you seek to establish," she demanded, as he came up for his answer. He looked at her quizzically, and seeing a slight gleam of humor in her fine eyes, he launched into the heart of the question. "What relationship? Well, I should say that of husband and wife, if I was not afraid of being premature;" he glanced at her and saw that she was interested and not in the least forbidding. "To be sure, I am poor, while you are wealthy, but I'm willing to overlook that; in fact, I'm willing to overlook anything, and dare all things if you would only consider me favorably--as a son-in-law." "You are actually serious?" "Serious, am I--on my faith, it's a life and death affair with me this minute!" "And my little Evilena the cause?" "Yes, our Evilena, who does not feel so small as you may imagine. Look at her now. Could a dozen seasons give her more confidence in her own powers than she has this minute by reason of those uniformed admirers?--to say nothing of my own case."