Nevertheless, there was much liveliness and good fellowship at the fort.
Captains and lieutenants down to the youngest "cub," Forsyth, vied
with each other to please the Englishmen, supplied them with that
characteristic American humor and anecdote which it is an Englishman's
privilege to bring away with him, and were picturesquely and
chivalrously devoted in their attentions to the ladies, who were pleased
and amused by it, though it is to be doubted if it increased their
respect for the giver, although they were more grateful for it than
the average American woman. Lady Elfrida found the officers very
entertaining and gallant. Accustomed to the English officer, and his
somewhat bored way of treating his profession and his duties, she may
have been amused at the zeal, earnestness, and enthusiasm of these
youthful warriors, who aspired to appear as nothing but soldiers, when
she contrasted them with her Guardsmen relatives who aspired to
be everything else but that; but she kept it to herself. It was a
recognized, respectable, and even superior occupation for gentlemen in
England; what it might be in America,--who knows? She certainly found
Peter, the civilian, more attractive, for there really was nothing
English to compare him with, and she had something of the same feeling
in her friendship for Jenny, except the patronage which Jenny seemed to
solicit, and perhaps require, as a foreigner.

One afternoon the English guests, accompanied by a few of their hosts
and a small escort, were making a shooting expedition to the vicinity of
Green Spring, when Peter, plunged in his report, looked up to find his
sister entering his office. Her face was pale, and there was something
in her expression which reawakened his old anxiety. Nevertheless he
smiled, and said gently:--