"You are very kind; and it makes me have the blues to think of parting with you, perhaps never to see or hear from you again."
"Won't you write to me, as Miss Arbuckle does to the commodore, and tell me about your travels, and about your own country, when you return?"
"It would be a great satisfaction to me to have the privilege of doing so," said Shuffles, eagerly.
"I should prize your letters above all others," she replied.
"Will your father allow you to receive them from me?"
"Why should he not?"
"On account of Sir William."
"My father is one of the best and kindest men in the world, and he loves me with all his great soul. He has even told me that I might dismiss Sir William, when we return to England, if I found it impossible to like him," answered Feodora, artlessly; and English girls speak on such subjects with less reserve than American damsels.
"Here comes Sir William. I shall write to you at the first opportunity after we separate."
The baronet had been out to smoke; for young as he was, he had already formed this habit, which was one of Lady Feodora's strong objections to him,—he gave forth such an odor of tobacco. He frowned and looked savage when he saw the young couple together; but they continued their promenade in the hall, though they changed the subject of the conversation.