"
"I can come back at you with your own words," responded Brandon. "You
don't know when I am kind to you. I should be kinder to myself, at
least, were I to leave you and take myself to the other side of the
world."
"Oh! that is one thing I wanted to ask you about. Jane tells me you
are going to New Spain?"
She was anxious to know, but asked the question partly to turn the
conversation which was fast becoming perilous. As a girl, she loved
Brandon, and knew it only too well, but she knew also that she was a
princess, standing next to the throne of the greatest kingdom on
earth; in fact, at that time, the heir apparent--Henry having no
children--for the people would not have the Scotch king's imp--and the
possibility of such a thing as a union with Brandon had never entered
her head, however passionate her feelings toward him. She also knew
that speaking a thought vitalizes it and gives it force; so, although
she could not deny herself the pleasure of being near him, of seeing
him, and hearing the tones of his voice, and now and then feeling the
thrill of an accidental touch, she had enough good sense to know that
a mutual confession, that is, taking it for granted Brandon loved her,
as she felt almost sure he did, must be avoided at all hazards.
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