"I know his heart too well to fear that," exclaimed the excited girl; "be it as it may, my resolution is irrevocable; and if you refuse to take me under your charge, Mrs. Montresor," she added, "I will go alone." "What?" cried Adelaide who had entered the ante-chamber, followed by Gilbert, in time to hear these last words. "You would go alone, Cora; and who, then, opposes your departure? We will go together; will we not, dear aunt?" exclaimed the impetuous girl. "Yes, Adelaide, since your friend is determined on leaving, it will be far better for her to accompany us," replied Mrs. Montresor; "but I must own that I do not willingly give my consent to Miss Leslie's disobedience to her father's wishes." "But my father's thanks shall repay you for all, dear madam," said Cora; "I shall never forget his goodness." "Come, come, then, naughty child, let us return to the ball-room. You must bid adieu to all your acquaintance to-night, for our vessel, the Virginia, sails in three days. Come, children, come." Mrs. Montresor led the two girls away, while Mortimer Percy flung himself onto a sofa, Gilbert Margrave watching him anxiously. "Why did you not tell Mrs. Montresor the truth?" asked Gilbert. "What would have been the use, since I cannot tell it to Miss Leslie? That is what seals my lips. Her father has concealed from her her real origin. She thinks she is of the European race--I discovered that in my interview with her--and I dare not reveal a secret which is not mine to tell." "And you fear that her return to New Orleans will cause sorrow to herself?" said Gilbert. "I do," replied the young South American; "every door at which she dares to knock will be closed against her. Even my cousin, her friend, will turn from her with pity, perhaps, but with contempt. You, who dwell in a land where the lowest beggar, crawling in his loathsome rags, is as free as your mightiest nobleman, can never guess the terrors of Slavery. Genius, beauty, wealth, these cannot wash out the stain; the fatal taint of African blood still remains; and though a man were the greatest and noblest upon earth, the curse clings to him to the last. He is--a slave!" CHAPTER III. THE USURER'S BARGAIN. Cora's father, Gerald Leslie, was the owner of a fine estate upon the banks of a lake about two miles out of New Orleans, and also of a handsome house in that city. It is at this latter residence that we will introduce him to the reader. Gerald Leslie was in the very prime of life. Scarcely yet forty-five years of age, time had set no mark upon his thick chestnut hair or his handsome face, save a few almost imperceptible wrinkles which the cares of the last year or two had drawn in rigid lines about his well-shaped mouth.