"'Not the slightest,' said Mrs. Harrington. 'But James is always
thoughtful for others.'

"'Always,' the General said.

"'I have nothing to detain me here--I have seen Seville thoroughly, and
shall be glad to make this journey,' James said, without paying
attention to what had passed.

"I felt my cheeks tingling with impatience and indignation. What did
this eagerness and solicitude mean? Did he forget how unbecoming it
was--did he not remember how this strange, passionate, ill-regulated
creature, in spite of her beauty, her marvelous eyes, and her bewitching
voice, belonged to a race separated from us by all natural laws! Did he
forget that she was a menial--a slave?

"The General was smiling still, and smoothing a long curl of his wife's
hair that had broken loose from the comb and fell over the cushion in a
shining wave.

"'James is so full of his scheme of becoming a modern Don Quixote, that
he did not even hear me say that I would bring Zillah on here,' he said.

"'It strikes me that you are inclined to do Don Quixote yourself, sir,'
exclaimed James, and his voice was sharp and harsh.

"'Excuse me--you misunderstand,' replied the General, in a rather
drawling, sarcastic tone; 'if I were inclined to emulate Cervantes, here
I think my taste is sufficiently patrician for me to display it in some
other quarter than toward my wife's domestic.'

"The tone was somewhat sneering, and the speech was a little affected
and fatuous, but I knew he said it as a reproof to James, and he
deserved it well.

"'I am sure the courier seems the proper person to send back,' Mrs.
Harrington said, a little disturbed by this unusual tone between her
husband and son. 'Why should'nt he go, General?'

"'You are right, my treasure, as you always are,' he replied. 'But as I
began to tell you, I am obliged to return to Cadiz myself.'

"'If you have business there I can transact it for you,' persisted
James.

"'Thanks! I have the utmost confidence in your judgment, but this is a
matter that I feel inclined to take in my own hands.'

"'Business in Cadiz!' muttered James, ironically.

"His mother did not catch the words, but the General and I did. The
General only smiled--he looked a little contemptuous now.

"'Why do you have to go back, dear?' his wife asked.

"'Simply because I got a letter this morning from that stupid banker,
Henriquez. He has made a muddle of buying those three pictures we
wanted, and that Englishman wh