mber her!--out of all question. Had the war left me leisure for
making love, she was the only woman I ever knew, who could have brought
me to her feet--I mean as a dog, Dick."

"Do you see any resemblance between her and this Mildred Dutton? It is
in the expression rather than in the features--but, it is the expression
which alone denotes the character."

"By George, you're right, Bluewater; and this relieves me from some
embarrassment I've felt about that very expression of which you speak.
She _is_ like poor Agnes, who became a saint earlier than any of us
could have wished. Living or dead, Agnes Hedworth must be an angel! You
were fonder of her, than of any other woman, I believe. At one time, I
thought you might propose for her hand."

"It was not that sort of affection, and you could not have known her
private history, or you would not have fancied this. I was so situated
in the way of relatives, that Agnes, though only the child of a
cousin-german, was the nearest youthful female relative I had on earth;
and I regarded her more as a sister, than as a creature who could ever
become my wife. She was sixteen years my junior; and by the time she had
become old enough to marry, I was accustomed to think of her only as one
destined for another station. The same feeling existed as to her sister,
the Duchess, though in a greatly lessened degree."

"Poor, sweet Agnes!--and it is on account of this accidental
resemblance, that you have determined to make the daughter of a drunken
sailing-master your heiress?"

"Not altogether so; the will was drawn before I was conscious that the
likeness existed. Still, it has probably, unknown to myself, greatly
disposed me to view her with favour. But, Gervaise, Agnes herself was
not fairer in person, or more lovely in mind, than this very Mildred
Dutton."

"Well, you have not been accustomed to regard _her_ as a sister; and
_she_ has become marriageable, without there having been any opportunity
for your regarding her as so peculiarly sacred, Dick!" returned Sir
Gervaise, half suppressing a smile as he threw a quiet glance at his
friend.

"You know this to be idle, Oakes. Some one must inherit my money; my
brother is long since dead; even poor, poor Agnes is gone; her sister
don't need it; Bluewater is an over-rich bachelor, already; _you_ won't
take it, and what better can I do with it? If you could have seen the
cruel manner in which the spirits of both mother and daughter wer