'Oh, no!' She twisted from him, frightened. 'What do you mean? What expedition to the West?'

'Louisiana Territory, and farther, to the Pacific Ocean. A country so vast that it staggers the imagination. It is ours now, since the little French Consul has sold it to us. Didn't you know?'

She shook her head. 'I arrived but yesterday, and news is slow to get to Carolina.'

'It is not yet generally known, and there are many to criticize, saying that Jefferson has beggared the Treasury to buy millions of worthless desert acres that will make us the laughing-stock of nations. But I don't think so. I believe that this gigantic new land holds the key to our future'. What has this to do with us? her heart cried. What do I care for the future of the nation? Let it take care of itself, as it must, anyway. It is our future that matters. Our present.

But she could not say it, for he had withdrawn from her, his eyes, grown coldly gray, gazed up the river toward the West of which he spoke.

'Why must you go, Merne?' she whispered. 'I don't want you to.'

He turned on her passionately. 'And if I stayed? What is there for us now? Shall I make you my mistress? Shall we find some hidey-hole in Alexandria or Bladensburg where we may snatch an hour together, trembling at every sound? Or shall I follow you back to your home and call out your husband——I am a fair shot with the pistols, or——'

'Don't—!' She flung her hand over his bitter mouth. 'You know I mean nothing wrong. But surely we may just sec each other, here by the river. Can't we pretend for a little while that we have just met—as it was three years ago—to be together and talk? I know so little about you. I long to know so much. Meme—please.'

He caught her by the shoulders, and, as she shivered under his touch, his hands dropped clenched to his sides. 'What a child you are, Theo!' he exclaimed with fierce tenderness. 'And what a fool I am! But it shall be as you wish. Meet me here tomorrow'. He gave a curt laugh. 'Perhaps by tomorrow the stars will have turned back in their courses, the sun have forgotten to rise, and our love will be simple and easily satisfied with talk.'

He strode from her, loosed the stallion's bridle, and jumped into the saddle with one swift motion. He did not look back.

Theo, with her hands pressed tight against her breast, stood where he had left her until the mounting sun blazed through the leaves above her head.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN