298 "
ZULMIERA, THE HALF-CARIB GIRL.
Oh, Raphe !" said the agitated girl, as her lover concluded his relation, to which she had listened with breathless attention ; " oh, Raphe ! had I known this but even ten days agone, how much might I, how much might we all have been spared. But I thought your mother would never have consented that the governor's servant should mate with her noble son—and my own high spirit, goaded on as it has been by the scornful usage I have met, has led me to do a deed which may, perhaps, dash the cup of happiness from my lips. But, then," she murmured, as if more in communion with herself than in reply to her companion, " but then to be a queen, and Raphe (they promised that, or I would never have consented) to be a king. No, it must be : I have gone too far to turn back;" and she raised her head, and looked steadfastly, but apparently half-unconsciously at the young man, who, surprised at her behaviour and language, was gazing intently upon her. At length, slightly shaking her hand to arrest her attention, he inquired again the cause of her extreme emotion. Receiving no reply from Zulmiera, whose large dark eyes were still fixed upon his face, he became seriously alarmed, and, in an anxious tone, entreated her to quit directly the night air, and seek that repose she appeared to need so much, within the precincts of government house. Allowing herself to be led in that direction, they in silence gained the shrubbery ; when, after asking in vain for an explanation, and hearing her again and again express her assurance that she was not seriously indisposed, Raphe de Merefield bade her good even. As he turned to leave the spot, Zulmiera appeared to recover herself, and drawing a long breath, exclaimed " To-morrow, dear Raphe, tomorrow thou shalt know all—till then, farewell !" For some moments after the departure of the young cavalier, Zulmiera remained standing in the same posture ; and then, suddenly rousing herself, she gazed once more earnestly around, and finding all still, stepped without the bounds of the shrubbery, and retracing her steps, once more gained the border of the copse. She was about to make