t scruple
to capture us. In spite of this we kept up our spirits, thankful for
having already escaped so many dangers.

I should have been blind indeed had I not seen by this time what
Aveline's feelings were towards me. I was sitting by her side on deck,
our eyes wandering over the blue ocean, which now sparkled in the bright
sunlight. The air was soft and balmy, and the sky undimmed by a cloud.

"Aveline," I said, "you have now a father whose permission I should wish
to ask, and if he grants it, will you consent to be my wife?"

"Yes, I will," she answered. "I am sure I could never consent to be the
wife of anybody else."

I pressed her hand. I had felt almost sure that she had understood my
feelings, and yet, without pointedly asking her, I had no right to be
quite sure.

"I have no fears," she said, "about my father giving me leave to marry
you. I am sure he regards you already as a son. I only wish that I had
a dower to bring you."

"You have one," I answered, just then recollecting the document in Lady
Anne's hands. I told her of it, and added:

"And, now your father has appeared, I have little doubt it will enable
him to obtain possession of the estate of which it speaks. And yet I
almost wish that you had it not, as I would rather feel that I were
labouring for your support; and I am sure that my patron will place me
in a position by which I may obtain sufficient means for that object."

We agreed that I should speak forthwith to Captain Radford on the
subject. I did so. He smiled when I asked his permission to marry
Aveline.

"You have very fairly won her, young sir," he said; "and in truth I feel
that I have no right to withhold her from you, or rather that you have a
greater right to her than I have. I saw from the first how matters
stood; and I need scarcely tell you that I feel great satisfaction in
the knowledge that she has obtained one I believe well able and willing
to protect and support her through life."

No lover could have desired a more satisfactory answer, and indeed I
hoped that in our case the course of true love was about to run
smoothly. To be sure, we had gone through many dangers, and I knew very
well that we were not free from them yet altogether.

When, afterwards, Aveline had retired to her cabin, and I told A'Dale
what had occurred: "It is time, then," said he, "to confess that I have
been talking on the same subject to Margery. My good father and mother
woul