birth, he is no love at all.' My passion sprang into life full-grown
after an hour's contemplation of a beautiful face in Lidford church."

"Who is the lady?"

"O, her position is not worth speaking of. She is the adopted niece of a
half-pay captain--an orphan, without money or connections."

"Humph!" muttered John Saltram with the privileged candour of friendship;
"not a very advantageous match for you, Gilbert, from a worldly point of
view."

"I have not considered the matter from that point of view."

"And the lady is all that is charming, of course?"

"To my mind, yes."

"Very young?"

"Nineteen."

"Well, dear old follow, I wish you joy with all heartiness. You can
afford to marry whom you please, and are very right to let inclination
and not interest govern your choice. Whenever I tie myself in the bondage
of matrimony, it will be to a lady who can pay my debts and set me on my
legs for life. Whether such a one will ever consider my ugly face a fair
equivalent for her specie, is an open question. You must introduce me to
your future wife, Gilbert, on the first opportunity. I shall be very
anxious to discover whether your marriage will be likely to put an end to