person whom he esteemed
more highly than Miss Arnold, and that she had never given him the
least encouragement, such as need distress the happy man who had
secured her affections.

The happy man did not move till Delaford had left the room, when Louis
walked up to him and said, 'I can further tell you, of my own
knowledge, that that good girl refused large wages, and a lady's-maid's
place, partly because she would not live in the same house with that
man; and she has worked on with a faithful affection and constancy,
beyond all praise, as the single servant to Mr. and Mrs. Frost in their
distress.'

'Don't talk to me, my Lord,' cried Tom, turning away; 'I'm the most
unhappy man in the world!'

'I did not ask you to shake hands with Delaford to-night. You will
another day. He is only a vain coxcomb, and treated you to a little of
his conceit, with, perhaps, a taste of spite at a successful rival; but
he has only shown you what a possession you have in her.'

'You don't know what I've done, my Lord. I have written her a letter
that she can never forgive!'

'You don't know what I've done, Tom. I posted a letter by the mail
just starting from Callao--a letter to Mr. Frost, with a hint to
Charlotte that you were labouring under a little delusion; I knew, from
your first narration, that Ford could be no other than my old friend,
shorn of his beams.'

'That letter--' still muttered Tom.

'She'll forgive, and like you all the better for having afforded her a
catastrophe, Tom. You may write by the next mail; unless, what is
better still, you come home with us by the same, and speak for
yourself. If I am your master then, I'll give you the holiday. Yes,
Tom, it was important to me to clear up your countenance, for I want to
bespeak your services to-morrow as my friend.'

'My Lord!' cried Tom, aghast. 'If you do require any such service,
though I should not have thought it, there are many nearer your own
rank, officers and gentlemen fitter for an affair of the kind. I never
knew anything about fire-arms, since I gave up poaching.'

'Indeed, Tom, I am very far from intending to dispense with your
services. I want you to guide me to procure the required weapon!'

'Surely,' said Tom, with a deep, reluctant sigh, 'you never crossed the
Isthmus without one?'

'Yes, indeed, I did; I never saw the party there whom I should have
liked to challenge in this way. Why, Tom, did you really think I had
come out to Per