_George._ Zoe, listen to me, then. I shall see this estate pass from me without a sigh, for it possesses no charm for me; the wealth I covet is the love of those around me--eyes that are rich in fond looks, lips that breathe endearing words; the only estate I value is the heart of one true woman, and the slaves I'd have are her thoughts. _Zoe._ George, George, your words take away my breath! _George._ The world, Zoe, the free struggle of minds and hands, if before me; the education bestowed on me by my dear uncle is a noble heritage which no sheriff can seize; with that I can build up a fortune, spread a roof over the heads I love, and place before them the food I have earned; I will work-- _Zoe._ Work! I thought none but colored people worked. _George._ Work, Zoe, is the salt that gives savor to life. _Zoe._ Dora said you were slow; if she could hear you now-- _George._ Zoe, you are young; your mirror must have told you that you are beautiful. Is your heart free? _Zoe._ Free? of course it is! _George._ We have known each other but a few days, but to me those days have been worth all the rest of my life. Zoe, you have suspected the feeling that now commands an utterance--you have seen that I love you. _Zoe._ Me! you love me? _George._ As my wife,--the sharer of my hopes, my ambitions, and my sorrows; under the shelter of your love I could watch the storms of fortune pass unheeded by. _Zoe._ My love! My love? George, you know not what you say. I the sharer of your sorrows--your wife. Do you know what I am? _George._ Your birth--I know it. Has not my dear aunt forgotten it--she who had the most right to remember it? You are illegitimate, but love knows no prejudice. _Zoe._ [_Aside._] Alas! he does not know, he does not know! and will despise me, spurn me, loathe me, when he learns who, what, he has so loved.--[_Aloud._] George, O, forgive me! Yes, I love you--I did not know it until your words showed me what has been in my heart; each of them awoke a new sense, and now I know how unhappy--how very unhappy I am. _George._ Zoe, what have I said to wound you? _Zoe._ Nothing; but you must learn what I thought you already knew. George, you cannot marry me; the laws forbid it! _George._ Forbid it? _Zoe._ There is a gulf between us, as wide as your love, as deep as my despair; but, O, tell me, say you will pity me! that you will not throw me from you like a poisoned thing! _George._ Zoe, explain yourself--your language fills me with shapeless fears. _Zoe._ And what shall I say? I--my mother was--no, no--not her! Why should I refer the blame to her? George, do you see that hand you hold? look at these fingers; do you see the nails are of a bluish tinge? _George._ Yes, near the quick there is a faint blue mark. _Zoe._ Look in my eyes; is not the same color in the white? _George._ It is their beauty. _Zoe._ Could you see the roots of my hair you would see the same dark, fatal mark. Do you know what that is? _George._ No.