"By the way you go on I would almost believe you had left a lover behind," he said, severely. "If it is so, listen to me. You must cast him aside forever. I have promised the lieutenant that you will marry him within the week, and you must go to him heart-free." She gave a moan of actual pain, but he was deaf to all entreaty. Instead of listening, he drew a card from his pocket and consulted it. "The train leaves at twelve o'clock," he said. "I will be ready an hour before that time, and you must be. Unless you have shopping that must actually be done, you had better remain in the hotel, for fear of becoming involved in these street skirmishes, which appear to be altogether too frequent. Is Cara here?" She nodded her head. She couldn't command her voice sufficiently to speak. "Then let her go out for you. And now mind what I said, Estella; drop the past, and look only to the future. The worthy lieutenant said he would be in waiting, with a guard, on the arrival of the train at Marambo. You must show him how much you appreciate the honor he is about to confer upon you. The chances are that before this war is over he will be a general, like myself; for when money is added to valor, it means quick promotion." With these words he pressed a kiss upon her icy forehead, and quitted the room. She sank down on a couch and covered her face with her hands. She had tried to ward off her coming fate, and had failed! CHAPTER IX. "ESTELLA, MY QUEEN, HENCEFORTH NOTHING SHALL SEPARATE US!" "No, no! I will never consent! Rather than consent to such an unholy alliance I will seek safety in flight!" It was half an hour later when unhappy Estella sprang up uttering the above words. She had turned the whole situation over in her mind, and had reached the determination that, rather than be forced into this detestable marriage, she would run away. "I can join the Rebel army," she went on. "They need help in their hospitals, and I know a good deal about nursing, thanks to my lessons in medicine at Vassar. I will wait until the last minute, and then fly!" The very thought of personal liberty seemed to give her strength; and when Cara came in she found her young mistress bustling around in a far brighter mood than she had expected. "We must do some shopping, and then be back by eleven o'clock," said Estella. "We take the train for home at twelve." "There will be no train before six o'clock to-night--maybe not until even later," replied the maid. "I heard them talking about it down stairs. The rebels have torn up a portion of the roadbed." To Estella this was good news. She wished to remain in Santiago as long as possible. She might perchance see Howard, and then----She did not speculate further; she only hoped for the meeting.