he
felt, "but all that I love and value in this world are in this vessel,"
and she thought of Endymion and Adriana. The gentlemen were on deck,
chiefly smoking or reconnoitring their convoy through their telescopes.

"I must say," said Waldershare, "it was a grand idea of our kings making
themselves sovereigns of the sea. The greater portion of this planet is
water; so we at once became a first-rate power. We owe our navy entirely
to the Stuarts. King James the Second was the true founder and hero of
the British navy. He was the worthy son of his admirable father, that
blessed martyr, the restorer at least, if not the inventor, of ship
money; the most patriotic and popular tax that ever was devised by man.
The Nonconformists thought themselves so wise in resisting it, and they
have got the naval estimates instead!"

The voyage was propitious, the weather delightful, and when they had
entered the southern waters Waldershare confessed that he felt the
deliciousness of life. If the scene and the impending events, and their
own fair thoughts, had not been adequate to interest them, there were
ample resources at their command; all the ladies were skilled musicians,
their concerts commenced at sunset, and the sweetness of their voices
long lingered over the moonlit waters.

Adriana, one evening, bending over the bulwarks of the yacht, was
watching the track of phosphoric light, struck into brilliancy from the
dark blue waters by the prow of their rapid vessel. "It is a fascinating
sight, Miss Neuchatel, and it seems one might gaze on it for ever."

"Ah! Lord Waldershare, you caught me in a reverie."

"What more sweet?"

"Well, that depends on its subject. To tell the truth, I was thinking
that these lights resembled a little your conversation; all the wondrous
things you are always saying or telling us."

The archbishop was a man who never recurred to the past. One could never
suppose that Endymion and himself had been companions in their early
youth, or, so far as their intercourse was concerned, that there was
such a place in the world as Hurstley. One night, however, as they were
pacing the deck together, he took the arm of Endymion, and said, "I
trace the hand of Providence in every incident of your sister's life.
What we deemed misfortunes, sorrows, even calamities, were forming a
character originally endowed with supreme will, and destined for the
highest purposes. There was a moment at Hurstley when I myself was