Harry went to his room, after a polite good-night to all the others.
He was not used to long and heavy dinners, and he felt the wish to rest
and take the measure of his situation. He threw back the green blinds
and opened the window a little. Once more the easy wind brought him
that odor of the far south, whether reality or fancy he could not say.
But he turned to another window and looked toward the north. Away from
the others and away from a subtle persuasiveness that had been in the
air, some of his doubts returned. It would not all be so easy. What
were they doing in the far states beyond the Ohio?
He heard footsteps in the hail and a voice that seemed familiar.
He had left his door partly open, and, when he turned, he caught a
glimpse of a face that he knew. It was young Shepard, whom he and Major
Talbot had met in Nashville. Shepard saw Harry also, and saluted him
cheerfully.
"I've just arrived," he said, "and through letters from friends in
St. Louis, members of one of the old French families there, I've been
lucky enough to secure a room at Madame Delaunay's inn."
"Fortune has been with us both," said Harry, somewhat doubtfully,
but not knowing what else to say.
"It certainly has," said Shepard, with easy good humor. "I'll see you
again in the morning and we'll talk of what we've been through, both of
us."
He walked briskly on and Harry heard his firm step ringing on the floor.
The boy retired to his own room again and locked the door. He had liked
Shepard from the first. He had seemed to him frank and open and no
one could deny his right to come to Charleston if he pleased. And yet
Colonel Talbot, a man of a delicate and sensitive mind, which quickly
registered true impressions, had distrusted him. He had even given
Harry a vague warning, which he felt that he could not ignore. He made
up his mind that he would not see Shepard in the morning. He would make
it a point to rise so early that he could avoid him.
His conclusion formed, he slept soundly until the first sunlight poured
in at the window that he had left open. Then, remembering that he
intended to avoid Shepard, he jumped out of bed, dressed quickly and
went down to breakfast, which he had been told he could get as early
as he pleased.
Madame Delaunay was already there, still looking smooth and fresh in
the morning air. But St. Clair was the only guest who was as early as
Harry. Both greeted him pleasantly and hoped that he had slept well.
Their courtesy, although Harry had no doubt of its warmth, was slightly
more ornate and formal than that to which he had been used at home.
He recognized here an older society, one very ancient for the New World.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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