“And with whom are you to stay when we reach the island, Jenny?” said Lovibond.
“With a young Manx friend lately married,” said Jenny.
“That’s strange; for I am going to do the same,” said Lovibond. “Where?”
“At Castle Mona,” said Jenny.
“That’s stranger still; for it’s the place to which I am going,” said Lovibond. “What’s your Manx friend’s name?”
“Mrs. Quiggin, now,” said Jenny.
“That’s strangest of all,” said Lovibond; “for my friend is Captain Quiggin, and we are bound for the same place, on the same errand.”
This series of coincidences thawed down the remaining frost between the pair, and they exchanged mutual confidences. They had gone so far as to promise themselves a fortnight’s further enjoyment of each other’s society, when their arrival at Douglas put a sudden end to their anticipations.
Two carriages were waiting for them on the pier—one, with a maid inside, was to take Jenny to Castle Mona: the other, with a boy, was to take Lovibond to Fort Ann.
The maid was Peggy Quine, seventeen years of age, of dark complexion, nearly as round as a dolley-tub, and of deadly earnest temperament. When Jenny found herself face to face and alone with this person, she lost no time in asking how it came to pass that Mrs. Quiggin was at Castle Mona while her husband was at Fort Ann.