"Kaffir Chief," as it
afforded her the earliest opportunity for evading pursuit. She was well
aware that she could easily proceed to India from the Cape in one of the
Indiamen that so frequently touched at that port, and so, on the whole,
she felt tolerably easy in her new position, and set to work, with her
usual tact, to make herself agreeable to the Captain and her fellow
travellers. Ensign Winterton she took under her especial protection,
which very much flattered his boyish pride; made considerable headway
with Major Dowlas, who, by the way, was a bachelor; and never failed to
accept the proffered arm of the attentive Captain, when on deck; for
although married and on the wrong side of fifty, being an Irishman and a
Corkonian, he was not insensible to the charms of a handsome woman some
years his junior.

Her account of herself was, that she was the wife of a surgeon at
Graham's Town, had been some time in England, and had spent the spring
and part of the summer in London, and intended to remain at Cape Town
until her husband came for her. She had several thousand pounds, the
savings of some twenty years, dressed with excellent taste, and had
taken such good care of her constitution, that she looked at least ten
years younger than she really was, and felt convinced from all she had
heard and read, that she would experience but little difficulty in
procuring a suitable husband and establishment in one of the Indian
Presidencies, she cared not which, and having no acquaintances in the
army, was not at all likely to be recognized as the ex-governess of
Vellenaux.

CHAPTER XVI.

There was another change that had taken place in the little village of
Vellenaux which has not been brought to the notice of the reader, and
may as well be introduced here as elsewhere, since it must be known
sooner or later. The venerable rector who had performed the last sad
rites over Sir Jasper, did not long survive his old and esteemed friend.
He had been ailing for several months prior to his decease, and had been
assisted in his clerical duties by a Curate, a gentleman of
pre-possessing appearance; about twenty-eight years of age. He appeared
to be eminently qualified for the profession he had chosen, and entered
with spirit and energy upon the various duties that now devolved upon
him; his quiet and unassuming manner gained him the respect of the whole
neighborhood. He read with a clear, distinct tone, and his sermons were
s