"That's just what I can't be with the witch, confound her! she is such a wag, such a drole, such a mimic; disobeys me in such a mocking, cajoling, affectionate way. I could not give her pain if her soul depended on it!"
"Then you should talk to her; try moral suasion."
"Yes; if I could only get her to be serious long enough to listen to me! But you see Cap isn't sentimental, and if I try to be she laughs in my face."
"But, then, is she so insensible to all the benefits you have conferred upon her? Will not gratitude influence her?"
"Yes; so far as repaying me with a genuine affection, fervent caresses and careful attention to my little comforts can go; but Cap evidently thinks that the restriction of her liberty is too heavy a price to pay for protection and support. The little rogue! Think of her actually threatening, in her good-humored way, to cite me before the nearest justice to show cause why I detained her in my house!"
"Well, you could easily do that, I suppose, and she could no longer oppose your authority."
"No; that is just what I couldn't do; I couldn't show any legal rights to detain Capitola."
"Humph! That complicates the case very much!"
"Yes; and much more than you think; for I wish to keep Capitola until she is of legal age. I do not wish that she should fall into the hands of her perfidious guardian until I shall be able to bring legal proof of his perfidy."
"Then it appears that this girl has received foul play from her friends?"
"Foul play! I should think so! Gabriel Le Noir has very nearly put his neck into a halter."
"Gabriel Le Noir! Colonel Le Noir, our neighbor!" exclaimed the minister.
"Exactly so. Parson, you have given me your word as a Christian minister to be silent forever concerning this interview, or until I give you leave to speak of it."
"Yes, major, and I repeat my promise; but, indeed, sir, you astound me!"
"Listen, and let astonishment rise to consternation. I will tell you who Capitola is. You, sir, have been in this neighborhood only ten years, and, consequently, you know Gabriel Le Noir only as the proprietor of Hidden House, a widower with a grown son----"
"And as a gentleman of irreproachable reputation, in good standing both in the church and in the county."