Page 77 (1/1)

"I wish I knew him," said Kate "I wish I could have seen him once"

"That can never be," said Fred, sadly

"No;--of course not"

Then Mrs O'Hara asked a question "Has he ever heard of us?"

"Yes;--he has heard of you"

"From you?"

"No;--not first from me There are many reasons why I would not have mentioned your names could I have helped it He has wished irl That was impossible"

"Thatup into his face

"Quite so, dearest; but why should I have vexed hione so soon?"

"Who had told him of us?" asked Mrs O'Hara

"That woued old maid that she is," exclaimed Fred "She writes to my aunt by every post, I believe"

"What evil can she say of us?"

"She does say evil Never mind what Such a wo"

"There,"I don't care what she says"

"If she tells your aunt that we live in a se, without servants, without society, with just the bare necessaries of life, she tells the truth of us"

"That's just what she does say;--and she goes on harping about religion Never mind her You can understand that my uncle should be old-fashioned He is very old, and weis so weary," said Mrs O'Hara

"It is not weary forsaid a word about the Captain He found the Captain to be a subject very unco there that it ht perhaps be better to make his first enquiries of this priest No one said a word to him about the Captain beyond what he had heard from his boatman For, as it happened, he did not see the priest till May was nearly past, and during all that tiarded any services which he rendered to the army at this period of his career, the excuses which he had made to his uncle were certainly not valid Some pretence at positively necessary routine duties it must be supposed that he made; but he spentthe cliffs with Kate, or on the road going backwards and forwards, than he did at his quarters It was known that he was to leave the regireat man at home in October, and his brother officers were kind to hi lady down on the sea coast beyond Ennistimon, and doubtless there were jokes on the subject But there was no one with hiht have served to help to rescue hi this time Lady Mary Quin still made her reports, and his aunt's letters were full of cautions and entreaties "I am told," said the Countess, in one of her now detested epistles, "that the young woalleys Oh, Fred, do not break our hearts" He had alotten the Captain when he received this further rumour which had circulated to him round by Castle Quin and Scroope Manor