ions
had been so freely offered, now felt that in love as well as in
accordance with the regulations of the service, he must give place to
his captain. Moreover, when that captain took upon himself, the very
next day, to call at the residence of Mr. Delaplaine, and repeated the
visit upon the next day and the following, the crestfallen young fellows
were compelled to acknowledge that there were other houses in the town
where it might be better worth their while to spend their leisure hours.

Captain Vince was not a man to be lightly interfered with, whether he
happened to be engaged in the affairs of Mars or Cupid. He was of a
resolute mind, and of a person more than usually agreeable to the female
eye. He was about forty years of age, of an excellent English family,
and with good expectations. He considered himself an admirable judge of
women, but he had never met one who so thoroughly satisfied his
aesthetic taste as this fair niece of the merchant Delaplaine. She had
beauty, she had wit, she had culture, and the fair fabrics of Spanish
Town shops gave to her attractions a setting which would have amazed and
entranced Master Newcombe or our good Dickory. The soul of Captain Vince
was fired, and each time he met Kate and talked with her the fire grew
brighter.

He had never considered himself a marrying man, but that was because he
had never met any one he had cared to marry. Now things were changed.
Here was a girl he had known but for a few days, and already, in his
imagination, he had placed her in the drawing-rooms of the English home
he hoped soon to inherit, more beautiful and even more like a princess
than any noble dame who was likely to frequent those rooms. In fancy he
had seen her by his side, walking through the shaded alleys of his grand
old gardens; he had looked proudly upon her as she stood by him in the
assemblages of the great; in fact, he had fallen suddenly and absolutely
in love with her. When he was away from her he could not quite
understand this condition of things, but when he was with her again he
understood it all. He loved her because it was absolutely impossible for
him to do anything else.

Naturally, Captain Vince was very agreeable to Mistress Kate, for she
had never seen such a handsome man, taking into consideration his
uniform and his bearing, and had never talked with one who knew so well
what to say and how to say it. Comparing him with the young officers who
had been so fond of