"
The other coloured, bowed to the compliment, but appeared to hesitate
before he answered.
"'Tis not absolutely necessary to be an American by birth," he said, "as I
have already had occasion to observe, in order to understand the
institutions of the country, and I might possibly mislead you were you to
fancy that a native was your instructer. I have often been in the country,
however, if not born in it, and few young men, on this side of the
Atlantic, have had their attention pointed, with so much earnestness, to
all that affects it as myself."
"I was in hopes we had the honour of including you among our countrymen,"
observed John Effingham, with evident disappointment. "So many young men
come abroad disposed to quarrel with foreign excellences, of which they
know nothing, or to concede so many of our own, in the true spirit of
serviles, that I was flattering myself I had at last found an exception."
Eve also felt regret, though she hardly avowed to herself the reason.
"He is then, an Englishman, after all!" said Mr. Sharp, in another aside.
"Why not a German--or a Swiss--or even a Russian?"
"His English is perfect; no continental could speak so fluently, with such
a choice of words, so totally without an accent, without an effort. As
Mademoiselle Viefville says, he does not speak well enough for a
foreigner.
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