"Say no more, Deerslayer," she hastily interposed; "it pains me to
hear you find fault with yourself. I know my own weakness, all the
better, now I see that you have discovered it; the lesson, bitter
as I have found it for a moment, shall not be forgotten. We will
not talk any longer of these things, for I do not feel myself brave
enough for the undertaking, and I should not like the Delaware, or
Hist, or even Hetty, to notice my weakness. Farewell, Deerslayer;
may God bless and protect you as your honest heart deserves blessings
and protection, and as I must think he will."
Judith had so far regained the superiority that properly belonged
to her better education, high spirit, and surpassing personal
advantages, as to preserve the ascendancy she had thus accidentally
obtained, and effectually prevented any return to the subject that
was as singularly interrupted, as it had been singularly introduced.
The young man permitted her to have every thing her own way, and when
she pressed his hard hand in both her own, he made no resistance,
but submitted to the homage as quietly, and with quite as matter
of course a manner, as a sovereign would have received a similar
tribute from a subject, or the mistress from her suitor.
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