poor Eugenie! Little did I guess the nature of that cloud! Little did
I dream how dark it was!

Notwithstanding my self-exculpation, I still felt pain. Had Eugenie
Besancon been a woman of ordinary character I might have borne my
reflections more lightly. But to a heart so highly attuned, so noble,
so passionate, what would be the shock of an unrequited love? Terrible
it must be; perhaps the more so at thus finding her rival in her own
slave!

Strange confidante had I chosen for my secret! Strange ear into which I
had poured the tale of my love! Oh that I had not made my confession!
What suffering had I caused this fair, this unfortunate lady!

Such painful reflections coursed through my mind; but there were others
equally bitter, and with bitterness springing from a far different
source. What would be the effect of the disclosure? How would it
affect our future--the future of myself and Aurore? How would Eugenie
act? Towards me? towards Aurore--_her slave_?

My confession had received no response. The mute lips murmured neither
reply nor adieu. I had gazed but a moment on the insensible form.
Aurore had beckoned me away, and I had left the room in a state of
embarrassment and confusion--I scarce remembered how.

What would be the result? I trembled to think. Bitterness, hostility,
revenge?

Surely a soul so pure, so noble, could not harbour such passions as
these?

"No," thought I; "Eugenie Besancon is too gentle, too womanly, to give
way to them. Is there a hope that she may have pity on _me_, as I pity
_her_? Or is there not? She is a Creole--she inherits the fiery
passions of her race. Should these be aroused to jealousy, to revenge,
her gratitude will soon pass away--her love be changed to scorn. _Her
own slave_!"

Ah! I well understood the meaning of this relationship, though I cannot
make it plain to you. You can ill comprehend the horrid feeling. Talk
of a _mesalliance_ of the aristocratic lord with the daughter of his
peasant retainer, of the high-born dame with her plebeian groom--talk of
the scandal and scorn to which such rare events give rise! All this is
little--is mild, when compared with the positive disgust and horror felt
for the "white" who would ally himself _in marriage_ with a _slave_! No
matter how white _she_ be, no matter how beautiful--even lovely as
Aurore--he who would make her his _wife_ must bear her away from her
native land, far from the scenes where sh