ations possessed no solid
foundation, and were quite unworthy of belief. He even forbade her, but
always vainly, to mention them to him again.

Thus two years went by. At the end of that time Orso was placed on
half-pay, and then it occurred to him to go back to his own country--not
at all for the purpose of taking vengeance on people whom he believed
innocent, but to arrange a marriage for his sister, and the sale of his
own small property--if its value should prove sufficient to enable him
to live on the Continent.

CHAPTER VII

Whether it was that the arrival of his sister had reminded Orso forcibly
of his paternal home, or that Colomba's unconventional dress and manners
made him feel shy before his civilized friends, he announced, the
very next day, his determination to leave Ajaccio, and to return to
Pietranera. But he made the colonel promise that when he went to Bastia
he would come and stay in his modest manor-house, and undertook, in
return, to provide him with plenty of buck, pheasant, boar, and other
game.

On the day before that of his departure Orso proposed that, instead of
going out shooting, they should all take a walk along the shores of
the gulf. With Miss Lydia on his arm he was able to talk in perfect
freedom--for Colomba had stayed in the town to do her shopping, and
the colonel was perpetually leaving the young people to fire shots at
sea-gulls and gannets, greatly to the astonishment of the passers-by,
who could not conceive why any man should waste his powder on such
paltry game.

They were walking along the path leading to the Greek Chapel, which
commands the finest view to be had of the bay, but they paid no
attention to it.

"Miss Lydia," said Orso, after a silence which had lasted long enough to
become embarrassing, "tell me frankly, what do you think of my sister?"

"I like her very much," answered Miss Nevil. "Better than you," she
added, with a smile; "for she is a true Corsican, and you are rather too
civilized a savage!"

"Too civilized! Well, in spite of myself, I feel that I am growing a
savage again, since I have set my foot on the island! A thousand horrid
thoughts disturb and torment me, and I wanted to talk with you a little
before I plunge into my desert!"

"You must be brave, monsieur! Look at your sister's resignation; she
sets you an example!"

"Ah! do not be deceived! Do not believe in her resignation. She has
not said a word to me as yet, but every look of h