The
Arguellos, it flashed upon him, were an old Spanish family, former
owners of Yerba Buena Island, who had in the last years become
extinct. There had been a story that one of them had eloped with
an American ship captain's wife at Monterey. The legendary history
of early Spanish California was filled with more remarkable
incidents, corroborated with little difficulty from Spanish
authorities, who, it was alleged, lent themselves readily to any
fabrication or forgery. There was no racial pride: on the
contrary, they had shown an eager alacrity to ally themselves with
their conquerors. The friends of the Arguellos would be proud to
recognize and remember in the American heiress the descendant of
their countrymen. All this passed rapidly through his mind after
the first moment of surprise; all this must have been the
deliberate reasoning of this girl of seventeen, whose dark eyes
were bent upon him. Whether she was seeking corroboration or
complicity he could not tell.
"Have you found this out yourself?" he asked, after a pause.
"Yes. One of my friends at the convent was Josita Castro; she knew
all the history of the Arguellos. She is perfectly satisfied."
For an instant Paul wondered if it was a joint conception of the
two schoolgirls.
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