"That may be," said the baronet, "but I wish to address myself to you alone."

May rose as he spoke, and left the room.

"I have no doubt you have ample reasons for the regard you entertain for that young person," he began in his most bland tone. "She may be very estimable, and her beauty is, I own, of a high order."

"It is the least of her excellences, Sir Ralph," observed Miss Jane, resolved to meet the baronet in his own style.

"That may be," he answered, with a bow; "it is the quality, however, which has probably attracted my son Harry. You must be aware, my good cousins, however much he may fancy himself in love, I naturally object to his marrying a person of unknown birth and dest.i.tute of fortune. I objected when he was my second son, and since he has become my heir, I am doubly opposed to the match, as I wish him to marry a lady of rank and fortune who will contribute to his advancement in life. I am thus candid, that you may understand my motive for the offer I have come to make."

"We are happy to listen to anything you may have to say, Sir Ralph,"

answered Miss Jane, bowing, "though I cannot promise that we shall be ready to accept your offer."

"You will at all events hear it before you decide, my good cousin. Not to keep you longer in suspense, I will at once place you in possession of my intentions. You have, I understand, lost a considerable amount of your property, which, if I am rightly informed, you had left by will to the young person of whom we have been speaking. Now, I am willing to make up your loss to you so that you may leave her as well provided for as you intended, on condition that she signs an agreement not to marry Harry, and to refuse ever again to see him. He is somewhat of a headstrong character, and it is the only security I can have that he will not on his return to England induce her to become his wife."

"Is that the offer you have to make?" asked Miss Jane, in a tone of mingled surprise and anger. "I speak for myself and my sister. We certainly cannot accept it, and I am very certain that nothing would induce our dear May to sign such an agreement. She has already refused to marry Harry should you and Lady Castleton withhold your consent. She did so, confident of Harry's love--in the belief that you would in time relent. But you might as well plunge a dagger in her breast as ask her to abandon the hope which now supports her of some day becoming his wife. I beg, therefore, that you will not expect us to make so cruel a proposal."

"Very well, my good cousins. I must take other means of preventing Harry from marrying the girl, and you will lose the advantage I have offered," answered the baronet.

"We at all events shall have the consciousness of having acted rightly,"

observed Miss Jane.

Sir Ralph, who was courteous under all circ.u.mstances, rose as he spoke, and gracefully putting out his hand, bowed low and quitted the room.

"Abominable," exclaimed Miss Jane, "he must have formed a strange opinion of us."

"He holds, I fear, a low opinion of his fellow-creatures generally,"

said Miss Mary, "and the sooner we try to forget what he has said, the better."

The ladies agreed not to let May know of Sir Ralph's insulting offer as they justly considered it. Miss Jane's only fear was, that he might, under the belief that she would be induced to consent, make it to May herself. She determined to be on the watch to prevent him, if possible, from doing so.

He did not, however, again appear at Downside. The great event which occurred to break the monotony of their lives was the arrival of a packet from the East containing Harry's enclosure to May. With what eagerness and delight she read it, what pleasure she felt in being able to give one from Jacob to the dame. May's heart throbbed as she read Harry's account of the capture of the French ship. Her woman's heart was gratified too, when he told her how completely he had loved her for herself alone, and that he had only just discovered that she was not, as he had supposed, a fisherman's daughter, but might some day be found to be as well-born as himself.

"I cannot help hoping that such will prove to be the case, and then the only bar to our happiness will be removed, dearest May," he wrote.

Other letters came describing the voyage of the _Thisbe_ through the Indian Seas, and then month after month pa.s.sed by and no more were received. The roses began to fade from May's cheeks, even the Miss Pembertons became anxious. Neither had Julia nor any of his family heard from him.

Julia told them that Sir Ralph had obtained permission for Harry to return home, and that possibly being on his voyage he had thought it unnecessary to write; but this would not account for the long interval between his last letter and the time when he could have received the Admiralty's orders.

Whenever Julia went to Downside, she had to give the same answer--"no news from Harry."

Sir Ralph himself had become anxious, and made frequent visits to the Admiralty to hear whether his son had been heard of. The only information he could gain was that the _Thisbe_ had been sent to the Indian Archipelago and had not returned to Calcutta.

At length news was received that she had arrived after encountering a terrific hurricane, and that she had captured a prize, in which one of her officers and several of her men had been lost.

"But the officer's name," asked Sir Ralph of the clerk who was giving him the information.

"I shall find it shortly, sir. Yes, as I feared, it is Lieutenant Castleton." Sir Ralph staggered out of the Admiralty. At the door he encountered General Sampson.

"I have just come to enquire about my gallant friend, Captain Headland, and your boy Harry," exclaimed the old soldier, taking the baronet's hand. "Why, you look pale, Sir Ralph, what is the matter?"

"He has gone, lost in a hurricane," answered Sir Ralph, with a groan.

"I do not believe it; cannot be the case; he would swim through fifty hurricanes," exclaimed the petulant old general. "The clerks here never have the rights of the story. Come back with me, we will have a look at the despatches. We manage things better at the War Office, I flatter myself."

"The account was very circ.u.mstantial though," said Sir Ralph, with a sigh. "I wish I could believe there was a mistake."

"Of course there is a mistake, very sure of it. Come along, and we will soon set it to rights."

The general dragged Sir Ralph back into the building. The clerk looked somewhat offended at the general's address.

"I understand that you have told Sir Ralph Castleton that his son is lost. You should be more exact, sir, in the information you give. Just let me see the despatch."

The clerk hesitated, on which the general desired his name to be taken in to the secretary. He was admitted, and the despatch placed in his hand. His countenance fell.

"Still I do not see that it is certain," he observed. "The ship was not seen to go down, and if she had, some of the people may have been saved: people often are saved from sinking ships, and there is no proof positive that she did sink. Though the _Thisbe_ may have been in danger, and I am sure if Captain Headland says she was, it must have been of no ordinary character, that is no reason that the prize might not have weathered the hurricane. He speaks of her, I see, as a recapture, and in all probability an Indiaman, and those hulking tea-chests will float when a man-of-war will go down."

"I trust, general, you are right," observed the secretary: "I will not fail to inform Sir Ralph directly we receive further information."

Notwithstanding all the general had said, Sir Ralph felt so greatly dispirited, that, writing to Lady Castleton, he gave her no hopes of Harry's having escaped.

Unable to speak, she placed the letter in her daughter's hands. As Julia's glance fell on the name of the _Thisbe_, and the words "all the people are lost," a sickening sensation came over, and her eyes refused to convey to her mind the meaning of the letter. It was dropping from her trembling hands when, by a great effort, she recovered herself, and at length was able to decipher the writing. She read on. The _Thisbe_ and Headland were safe. Poor Harry was lost. She blamed herself for selfishly feeling that this was a relief. Then May, crushed by the agony of her grief, rose before her.

"This blow, sweet creature, will break her heart," she thought.

"Oh, mother, this is very very sad," she said aloud, "can it be true?"

"Your father speaks as if he had no hopes; he would have expressed himself differently had he entertained any."

"Mother, I must go and break this sad news to our cousins and that poor girl; it might kill her were she to hear of it suddenly."

"Grief never kills in that way, though it may by slow degrees," said Lady Castleton, with a deep sigh. "It will, however, be kind in you to do as you propose; will you drive or ride over to Downside?"

Julia determined to ride; the air and exercise would nerve her for the trying interview.

Why had not Headland written though? probably he had been prevented by his professional duties.

Attended by the old coachman who generally accompanied her with one of the carriage horses, she reached Downside. May hurried out to meet her.

Julia could scarcely restrain her agitation, or keep back her tears, as May, with an inquiring glance, led her into the drawing-room where Miss Mary and Miss Jane were seated.

"What has happened?" asked May, in an agitated voice, taking Julia's hand, who sank into a chair.

"I will speak to cousin Jane first," said Julia, as she rose. Unable longer to restrain her feelings, she threw her arms round May's neck, and burst into tears.

"What has happened?" exclaimed May, her voice trembling as she spoke.

"Oh tell me, has Harry been wounded? is he in danger?"

Julia's sobs prevented her from replying. Miss Jane believing the worst, led May to the sofa as if she considered that Julia's information most concerned her.

"We must all live prepared to say 'thy will be done,'" said Miss Jane, seating herself by May's side, and taking her in her arms.