"
"Ah," I said, "the statesman?--the successor of Randolph in bitter
oratory?"
"Yes, and yonder he is."
I looked in the direction indicated, and saw an elderly gentleman of
small stature, with long gray hair, and lips full of benignant smiles.
He wore a suit of black, and there was something courtly and attractive
in every movement of the slender figure. His low bow and sweet smile
were the perfection of old-time courtesy.
I was still looking at this gentleman, whose fame had extended
throughout Virginia and the whole South, when a familiar voice near me,
attracted my attention. It was that of Captain Davenant, the young
officer of the horse artillery, and glancing in the direction of the
voice I saw him bending over a young lady who was seated and conversing
with him. She was a girl of seventeen, with blue eyes, auburn hair, and
a complexion as fair as a lily. As Davenant addressed her in low tones,
she gazed up into his face with an expression of confiding affection.
In the eyes of the young officer I could read a profound and ardent
love.
Turning to my friend I inquired the name of the young lady, in turn.
"Miss Virginia Conway," he replied, "the only sister of Miss Georgia."
He had scarcely uttered the words, when Davenant's interview with the
young lady terminated in a very singular manner.
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