is delight and satisfaction were almost too great
for words. He was overjoyed that Roger had returned, vastly
gratified that the money he expended on the Swan was to be repaid,
and greatly captivated by Amenche.

The princess could speak but a few words of English, for Roger had
been afraid to commence her tuition in that language until they
were safely in England: but she was greatly pleased with the
welcome she received; and began, for the first time, to feel that
someday she might come to regard this strange country as home.

There was a long talk, between Roger and his uncle, as to the steps
that should be taken. It was agreed that, now Spain and England
were so closely allied, it would be imprudent in the extreme to
allow it to become known that the Swan had sailed for the Western
Indies, or that Roger had obtained wealth there; for if it came to
the ears of the Court--and such strange news would travel fast--it
might well be that a ruinous fine might be imposed upon all
concerned in the matter. Therefore, it was arranged that nothing
whatever should be said about it; but that it should be given out
that the Swan had been wrecked in foreign parts; and that Roger,
who had been sole survivor of the wreck, had settled abroad and
made money there, and had married a foreign lady.

More than that, it would be unnecessary to tell. The gems could be
sent over, a few at a time, to Amsterdam; and there sold to
merchants who would care nothing whence they came; and the partners
of Diggory Beggs, in the venture of the Swan, would be only too
glad to receive their money back again, and to ask no questions as
to how it had been obtained. And so matters were carried out.

For some months, Roger remained in nominal partnership with his
uncle; and then bought a large estate, a few miles out of the town,
where he set up as a country gentleman. He was, for a time,
somewhat shyly looked upon by the magistrates of the county, who
deemed it an unheard-of thing for a Plymouth merchant thus to
settle among them; but in time he was accepted, especially after it
became known that, when he went up to town, he held his place among
the highest there, and kept a state and expenditure equal to that
of many of the nobles.

His wife was remarkable, not only for her beauty, but for the
richness of her jewels, many of which were fashioned in a way such
as had never before been seen at the English Court. As time went
on, and the relations betw