“Oh, mine is here at your service. I am going ashore with you of course,” said General Conyers.
“I beg your pardon, sir! the boat you came in has been taken by Captain Fairfax, who has gone ashore with it.”
“Ah, true!”
“Captain Fairfax?” asked Archer Clifton.
“Yes, my friend, Captain Fairfax. Frank accompanied me hither in search of yourself. Some news of vital importance he had to communicate, which he did not impart to me. He could not wait for your return at all, so he went ashore in search of you. He would have found you sooner if he had waited here, which proves the truth of the old proverb—“Most haste, least speed.””
“The boat is manned, sir,” said a lieutenant to Major Clifton.
General Conyers and himself then took leave of the British officers, entered the boat, and were rowed swiftly to the land. As soon as they had stepped upon the beach, and found themselves alone, Conyers grasped the hand of Clifton, and shaking it cordially, said—
“So, you have won noble Catherine? Well, I congratulate you with a whole heart, though you have won her from my hopes.”
“Won her from your hopes?”
“Ay, Archer, I loved her.”