ablishment?

Sometimes I indulged in the wild hope that Tunicu might one day take me
to a foreign country, where my past would be ignored, and where we might
be married without regard to the opinion of the world. But my lover,
though always full of projects and promises, had never once alluded to
the subject of matrimony. People broadly hinted that my Tunicu was a
libertine, like some of his companions and that he had no intention of
making me his wife; but we were both favoured with rivals whose
interest it was to speak in these terms. My rivals were the white
ladies, who were jealous of Tunicu's attentions to me, and who never
forgot to openly express their indignation at the relationship which
they knew to exist between me and my lover. Tunicu's rivals were even
more numerous; some of them would show their regard for me by serenading
under my window with a band of music, upon such occasions as my saint's
day, or during the fiestas. I dared not exhibit an indifference to these
attentions, without transgressing certain social laws of the country;
besides, I found that Tunicu himself did not disapprove of them--he
never explained why, but I suppose he considered these little attentions
as a sort of acknowledgment of his good taste, or, perhaps, they
afforded a proof to him of my constancy.

The boldest of my admirers was a young half-caste called Frasquito,
whose mulatto-father was a wealthy tobacco trader and held a high
position among the Cuban merchants.

Frasquito was an occasional visitor at Don Benigno's, for, being an
accomplished musician, he was a great acquisition when a dance was given
at our residence. Once he composed a Cuban danza, and dedicated it to
me, calling it after my name: 'La Bella Ermina.'

Frasquito was perfectly aware of my relations with Tunicu, but he must
have regarded them with the same levity as others did; for, one day,
happening to be alone with my admirer, he, to my great confusion and
surprise, made me an offer of marriage; assuring me that his father had
already approved of his choice, and promising that if I would accept him
for a husband, he would, previous to the marriage ceremony, procure my
beloved mother's liberty.

I fear that my reply was unsatisfactory to both of us. I could not tell
him with truth that I was betrothed to another, because, though that
other had long appropriated my heart, he had never openly asked my hand.
It was equally difficult to show why I did not a