ite unimpaired, a childish
love and gratitude were his reward. She would interrupt a conversation to
cross the room and kiss him. If she grew excited (as she did too often)
it was his habit to come behind her chair and pat her shoulder; and then
she would turn round, and clasp his hand in hers, and look from him to
her visitor with a face of pride and love; and it was at such moments
only that the light of humanity revived in her eyes. It was hard for any
stranger, it was impossible for any that loved them, to behold these mute
scenes, to recall the past, and not to weep. But to the Captain, I think
it was all happiness. After these so long years he had found his wife
again; perhaps kinder than ever before; perhaps now on a more equal
footing; certainly, to his eyes, still beautiful. And the call made on
his intelligence had not been made in vain. The merchants of Aux Cayes,
who had seen him tried in some "counter-revolution" in 1845, wrote to the
consul of his "able and decided measures," "his cool, steady judgment and
discernment," with admiration; and of himself, as "a credit and an
ornament to H.M. Naval Service." It is plain he must have sunk in all his
powers, during the years when he was only a figure, and often a dumb
figure, in his wife's drawing-room; but with this new term of service he
brightened visibly. He showed tact and even invention in managing his
wife, guiding or restraining her by the touch, holding family worship so
arranged that she could follow and take part in it. He took (to the
world's surprise) to reading--voyages, biographies, Blair's Sermons, even
(for her letters' sake) a work of Vernon Lee's, which proved, however,
more than he was quite prepared for. He shone more, in his remarkable
way, in society; and twice he had a little holiday to Glenmorven, where,
as may be fancied, he was the delight of the Highlanders. One of his last
pleasures was to arrange his dining-room. Many and many a room (in their
wandering and thriftless existence) had he seen his wife furnish "with
exquisite taste" and perhaps with "considerable luxury": now it was his
turn to be the decorator. On the wall he had an engraving of Lord
Rodney's action, showing the _Prothee_, his father's ship, if the reader
recollects; on either side of this, on brackets, his father's sword, and
his father's telescope, a gift from Admiral Buckner, who had used it
himself during the engagement; higher yet, the head of his grandson's
first