family, sir," returned
Mildred, calmly, but quite distinctly.

"Did you ever hear him say he was _not_, Miss Mildred?"

"I cannot say I ever did, Mr. Wychecombe. It is a subject that has
seldom been introduced in my hearing."

"But it has often been introduced in his! I declare, Sir Wycherly, it
has struck me as singular, that while you and I have so very frequently
stated in the presence of this gentleman, that our families are in no
way connected, he has never, in any manner, not even by a nod or a look
of approbation, assented to what he must certainly know to be the case.
But I suppose, like a true colonist, he was unwilling to give up his
hold on the old stock."

Here the entrance of Sir Gervaise Oakes changed the discourse. The
vice-admiral joined the party in good spirits, as is apt to be the case
with men who have been much occupied with affairs of moment, and who
meet relaxation with a consciousness of having done their duty.

"If one could take with him to sea, the comforts of such a house as
this, Sir Wycherly, and such handsome faces as your own, young lady,"
cried Sir Gervaise, cheerfully, after he had made his salutations;
"there would be an end of our exclusiveness, for every _petit maitre_ of
Paris and London would turn sailor, as a matter of course. Six months in
the Bay of Biscay gives an old fellow, like myself, a keen relish for
these enjoyments, as hunger makes any meat palatable; though I am far,
very far, indeed, from putting this house or this company, on a level
with an indifferent feast, even for an epicure."

"Such as it is, Sir Gervaise, the first is quite at your service, in all
things," rejoined the host; "and the last will do all in its power to
make itself agreeable."

"Ah--here comes Bluewater to echo all I have said and feel. I am telling
Sir Wycherly and the ladies, of the satisfaction we grampuses experience
when we get berthed under such a roof as this, with woman's sweet face
to throw a gleam of happiness around her."

Admiral Bluewater had already saluted the mother, but when his eye fell
on the face and person of Mildred, it was riveted, for an instant, with
an earnestness and intentness of surprise and admiration that all noted,
though no one saw fit to comment on it.

"Sir Gervaise is so established an admirer of the sex," said the
rear-admiral, recovering himself, after a pause; "that I am never
astonished at any of his raptures. Salt water has the usual effect on
h