proposed, withdrew
him.

It may be imagined that some very palpable and sufficient cause was
at work to induce society thus to stand on the defensive towards these
new-comers. Nothing of the kind. All the evidence against them was
shadowy; all the charges such as denied detail. They were an odd set,
they lived in a strange fashion, they knew nobody; and to accusations
like these even spotless integrity must succumb.

Dressed in a _robe de chambre_ that would have made the fortune of a
French Vaudeville actor, with a gold-tasselled fez, and slippers
to match, the Captain sat, smoking a splendid meerschaum, in a
well-cushioned chair, while his daughter was engaged at her embroidery,
opposite to him. Though it was midwinter, the sun streamed in through
the orange-trees on the terrace, and made a rainbow of the spray that
dashed from the marble fountain. The room itself combined all the
sumptuous luxury we understand by the word "comfort," with the graceful
elegance of a Southern existence. There were flowers and fresh air, and
the song of birds to be enjoyed on the softest of sofas and the best
carpeted of floors.

A large goblet of some amber-colored drink, in which a rock of pure ice
floated, stood at the Captain's elbow, and he sipped and puffed, with
his head thrown well back, in an attitude that to smokers must have some
Elysian ecstasy. Nor was his daughter the least ornamental part of the
situation; a morning dress of white muslin, tastefully trimmed with
sky-blue ribbons, and a rich fall of Brussels lace over her head, making
a very charming picture of the graceful figure that now bent over the
embroidery-frame.

"I tell you it won't do, Loo," said he, removing his pipe, and speaking
in a firm and almost authoritative voice. "I have been thinking a great
deal over it, and you must positively get away from this."

"I know that too," said she, calmly; "and I could have managed it easily
enough but for this promised visit of Charles. He comes through on his
way to Malta, and Sir William would not hear of anything that risked the
chance of seeing him."

"I 'd rather risk that than run the hazards we daily do in this place,"
said he, gravely.

"You forget, papa, that _he_ knows nothing of these hazards. He is eager
to see his son, for what he naturally thinks may be the last time. I 'm
sure I did my best to prevent the meeting. I wrote to Lord Agincourt;
I wrote to Charles himself. I represented all the peril t