“So do I, Miss Duncan,” said Charles, gravely. “The old garden had great charms for me; do you know, Captain Hepburn, I have only once been in this garden since you left England.”
“Indeed!” replied the sailor; “whose doing was that then?”
“It was this lady’s wish,” said Charles, “but I thought it
hard. Will you not make interest with her, that I may not be excluded in future? Trust me a little.”
“I can not interfere with Miss Duncan’s rules or regulations as to her visitors,” replied Captain Hepburn, in a tone that might pass for jest or earnest. “If I had any power I might exercise it in your favor: at present, you know, I am only a visitor myself, and can say nothing.”
“Papa wants you, Hilary,” said Nest, just then running up; and she, taking her little sister’s hand, returned to the house, rather glad at that moment to escape.
The gentlemen remained together looking after her, as they stood under the old lime tree on the lawn.
Mr. Huyton was the first to speak.
“We have been rivals, Captain Hepburn, but we need not be enemies; I would gladly prove myself not only your friend, but the friend also of the woman whom I may not love.”
His companion thanked him for his professions.