"But, Sir William"--so everybody called the well-known Sir William Johnson, in the colony of New York--"But, Sir William found it useful, Willoughby, and so, I dare say, will his son and successor, Sir John," observed the attentive wife and anxious mother; "and if you are not now in the army, Bob is. It will be a good thing for our son one day, and ought not to be lost."
"Ah, I see how it is, Beulah; your mother has no notion to lose the right of being called Lady Willoughby."
"I am sure my mother, sir, wishes to be called nothing that does not become your wife; if you remain Mr. Hugh Willoughby, she will remain Mrs. Hugh Willoughby. But papa, it might be useful to Bob."
Beulah was a great favourite with the captain, Maud being only his darling; he listened always to whatever the former said, therefore, with indulgence and respect. He often told the chaplain that his daughter Beulah had the true feelings of her sex, possessing a sort of instinct for whatever was right and becoming, in woman.
"Well, Bob may have the baronetcy, then," he said, smiling. "Major Sir Robert Willoughby will not sound amiss in a despatch."
"But, Bob cannot have it, father," exclaimed Maud--"No one can have it but you; and it's a pity it should be lost."
"Let him wait, then, until I am out of the way; when he may claim his own."
"Can that be done?" inquired the mother, to whom nothing was without interest that affected her children. "How is it, Mr. Woods?--may a title be dropped, and then picked up again?--how is this, Robert?"
"I believe it may, my dear mother--it will always exist, so long as there is an heir, and my father's disrelish for it will not be binding on me."
"Oh! in that case, then, all will come right in the end--though, as your father does not want it, I wish you could have it, now."