"Because--" I felt my face grow a little hot; "because--in short, Mr. Hunsden, I decline answering any more questions," and I plunged my hands deep in my breeches pocket.
Hunsden triumphed: his eyes--his laugh announced victory.
"What the deuce are you laughing at, Mr. Hunsden?"
"At your exemplary composure. Well, lad, I'll not bore you; I see how it is: Zoraide has jilted you--married some one richer, as any sensible woman would have done if she had had the chance."
I made no reply--I let him think so, not feeling inclined to enter into an explanation of the real state of things, and as little to forge a false account; but it was not easy to blind Hunsden; my very silence, instead of convincing him that he had hit the truth, seemed to render him doubtful about it; he went on:-"I suppose the affair has been conducted as such affairs always are amongst rational people: you offered her your youth and your talents-such as they are--in exchange for her position and money: I don't suppose you took appearance, or what is called LOVE, into the account--for I understand she is older than you, and Brown says, rather sensible-looking than beautiful. She, having then no chance of making a better bargain, was at first inclined to come to terms with you, but Pelet--the head of a flourishing school--stepped in with a higher bid; she accepted, and he has got her: a correct transaction--perfectly so--business-like and legitimate. And now we'll talk of something else."
"Do," said I, very glad to dismiss the topic, and especially glad to have baffled the sagacity of my cross-questioner--if, indeed, I had baffled it; for though his words now led away from the dangerous point, his eyes, keen and watchful, seemed still preoccupied with the former idea.
"You want to hear news from X----? And what interest can you have in X----? You left no friends there, for you made none. Nobody ever asks after you--neither man nor woman; and if I mention your name in company, the men look as if I had spoken of Prester John; and the women sneer covertly. Our X---- belles must have disliked you. How did you excite their displeasure?"
"I don't know. I seldom spoke to them--they were nothing to me. I considered them only as something to be glanced at from a distance; their dresses and faces were often pleasing enough to the eye: but I could not understand their conversation, nor even read their countenances. When I caught snatches of what they said, I could never make much of it; and the play of their lips and eyes did not help me at all."