“Still I do not see that it is certain,” he observed. “The ship was not seen to go down, and if she had, some of the people may have been saved: people often are saved from sinking ships, and there is no proof positive that she did sink. Though the Thisbe may have been in danger, and I am sure if Captain Headland says she was, it must have been of no ordinary character, that is no reason that the prize might not have weathered the hurricane. He speaks of her, I see, as a recapture, and in all probability an Indiaman, and those hulking tea-chests will float when a man-of-war will go down.”
“I trust, general, you are right,” observed the secretary: “I will not fail to inform Sir Ralph directly we receive further information.”
Notwithstanding all the general had said, Sir Ralph felt so greatly dispirited, that, writing to Lady Castleton, he gave her no hopes of Harry’s having escaped.
Unable to speak, she placed the letter in her daughter’s hands. As Julia’s glance fell on the name of the Thisbe, and the words “all the people are lost,” a sickening sensation came over, and her eyes refused to convey to her mind the meaning of the letter. It was dropping from her trembling hands when, by a great effort, she recovered herself, and at length was able to decipher the writing. She read on. The Thisbe and Headland were safe. Poor Harry was lost. She blamed herself for selfishly feeling that this was a relief. Then May, crushed by the agony of her grief, rose before her.
“This blow, sweet creature, will break her heart,” she thought.
“Oh, mother, this is very very sad,” she said aloud, “can it be true?”
“Your father speaks as if he had no hopes; he would have expressed himself differently had he entertained any.”
“Mother, I must go and break this sad news to our cousins and that poor girl; it might kill her were she to hear of it suddenly.”
“Grief never kills in that way, though it may by slow degrees,” said Lady Castleton, with a deep sigh. “It will, however, be kind in you to do as you propose; will you drive or ride over to Downside?”
Julia determined to ride; the air and exercise would nerve her for the trying interview.