"
"A sailor! I had supposed, from what some of those present said--that
is, I did not know it."
"Perhaps they told you that his great-grandfather was a _British
officer?_"
Emily coloured, and then she laughed faintly; admitting, however, that
I had guessed right.
"Well, all this was true," I added, "though he was a sailor. Old
Captain Hardinge--or Commodore Hardinge, as he used to be called, for
he once commanded a squadron--was in the English navy."
"Oh! that sort of a sailor!"--cried Emily, quickly--"I did not know
that it was usual to call gentlemen in the navy, seamen."
"They would make a poor figure if they were not, Miss Merton--you
might as well say that a judge is no lawyer."
This was enough, however, to satisfy me that Miss Merton no longer
considered the master of the Crisis the first man in the world.
A ring announced the arrival of the two girls. They were shown up, and
I soon had the satisfaction of seeing these three charming young women
together. Emily received her two guests very courteously, and was
frank--nay warm--in the expression of her gratitude for all that I
had done for herself and her father. She even went back so far as to
speak of the occurrence in the Park, at London, and was gracious
enough to declare that she and her parents owed their lives to my
interference.
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