“Is Mr Vanderwelt alive and well?”
“Oh yes; and Minnie, my pretty cousin, is still unmarried.” Vangilt smiled as he made this reply.
“I must ask for your parole, Vangilt, and then you can go to Hamburg with us.”
“With all my heart,” replied he; “for we are tired of war, and as I am a Dutchman and not a Frenchman, I care little for the reverses we have met with; all I hope is, that Holland may become a kingdom again, and not a French state, as it is now.”
The next day, I was visited by the Russian commandant, who very willingly granted me the parole of Vangilt. In a week I was well enough to travel by slow journeys to Hamburg, lying on mattresses in a small covered waggon, and escorted by Cross and Vangilt. A few hours before my arrival, Vangilt went ahead to give notice of my coming, and on the evening of the second day I found myself in a luxurious chamber, with every comfort, in the company of Mr Vanderwelt, and with the beaming eyes of Minnie watching over me.
The report of Minnie’s beauty was fully warranted. When she first made her appearance, the effect upon me was quite electrical: her style was radiant, and almost dazzling—a something you did not expect to find in the human countenance. Their reception of me was all that I could desire; their affection shown towards me, their anxiety about my wound, and joy at once more having me under their roof, proved that I had not been forgotten. After a short time, Vangilt left the room, and I remained on the sofa, one hand in the grasp of Mr Vanderwelt, the other holding the not unwilling one of Minnie. That evening I made known to them all that had taken place since I last wrote to them, winding up with the loss of my frigate, the death of Lord de Versely, and my subsequent capture and rescue.
“And so it was in attempting to come and see us that you were wounded and nearly murdered?”
“Yes, Minnie; I had long been anxious to see you, and could not help availing myself of the first opportunity.”
“Thank God you are here at last,” said Mr Vanderwelt, “and that there is now every prospect of a conclusion to the war.”
“And you won’t go to sea any more—will you, Percival?” said Minnie.