Sandy (with drunken submission). Ye was speaking to me, miss. Ef
ye'll take my advice,--a drunken man's advice, miss,--ye'll say to
that lover of yours, ef he's afeard to come for ye here, to take ye
as ye stand, he ain't no man for ye. And, ontil he does, ye'll do
as the ole man says. Fur ef I do say it, miss,--and thar ain't no
love lost between us,--he's a good father to ye. It ain't every
day that a gal kin afford to swap a father like that, as she DOES
KNOW, fur the husband that she DON'T! He's a proud old fool, miss;
but to ye, to ye, he's clar grit all through.
Jovita (passionately, aside). Tricked, fooled, like a child! and
through the means of this treacherous, drunken tool. (Stamping her
foot.) Ah! we shall see! You are wise, you are wise, Don Jose;
but your daughter is not a novice, nor a helpless creature of the
Holy Church. (Passionately.) I'll--I'll become a Protestant
to-morrow!
Sandy (unheeding her passion, and becoming more earnest and self-
possessed). Ef ye hed a father, miss, ez instead o' harkinin' to
your slightest wish, and surroundin' ye with luxury, hed made your
infancy a struggle for life among strangers, and your childhood a
disgrace and a temptation; ef he had left ye with no company but
want, with no companions but guilt, with no mother but suffering;
ef he had made your home, this home, so unhappy, so vile, so
terrible, so awful, that the crowded streets and gutters of a great
city was something to fly to for relief; ef he had made his
presence, his very name,--your name, miss, allowin' it was your
father,--ef he had made that presence so hateful, that name so
infamous, that exile, that flyin' to furrin' parts, that wanderin'
among strange folks ez didn't know ye, was the only way to make
life endurable; and ef he'd given ye,--I mean this good old man Don
Jose, miss,--ef he'd given ye as part of yer heritage a taint, a
weakness in yer very blood, a fondness for a poison, a poison that
soothed ye like a vampire bat and sucked yer life-blood (seizing
her arm) ez it soothed ye; ef this curse that hung over ye dragged
ye down day by day, till hating him, loathing him, ye saw yerself
day by day becoming more and more like him, till ye knew that his
fate was yours, and yours his,--why then, Miss Jovita (rising with
an hysterical, drunken laugh), why then, I'd run away with ye
myself,--I would, damn me!
Jovita (who has been withdrawing from him scornfully).
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