captain.

"Ah, that was a charming house," cried the lieutenant, "cultivation,
refinement, a sufficient competency, the whole style of establishment
free from ostentation, yet most comfortable; and Emily--Emily was the
soul of the whole house."

"Emily Varnier!" echoed Edward, while his heart beat fast and loud.

"Yes, yes! that was the name of the prettiest, most graceful, most
amiable girl in the world," said the lieutenant.

"You seem bewitched by the fair Emily," observed the cornet.

"I think you would have been too, had you known her," rejoined the
lieutenant; "she was the jewel of the whole society. Since she went
away there is no bearing their stupid balls and assemblies."

"But you must not forget," the captain resumed once more, "when you
attribute everything to the charms of the fair girl, that not only
she but the whole family has disappeared, and we have lost that
house which formed, as you say, so charming a point of reunion in our
neighborhood."

"Yes, yes; exactly so," said an old gentleman, a civilian, who had
been silent hitherto; "the Varniers' house is a great loss in the
country, where such losses are not so easily replaced as in a large
town. First, the father died, then came the cousin and carried the
daughter away."