atter displeased at hearing
he was to be their companion back to the dwelling of Sir Wycherly.

"I fear this summons bodes evil tidings," said Mrs. Dutton; "he would
hardly think of desiring to see us, unless something quite serious were
on his mind; and the messenger said he was no better."

"We shall learn all, my dear lady, when we reach the Hall," returned
Bluewater; "and the sooner we reach it, the sooner our doubts will be
removed. Before we enter the carriage, let me make you acquainted with
my young friend, Lord Geoffrey Cleveland, whom I have presumed to invite
to be of the party."

The handsome young midshipman was well received, though Mrs. Dutton had
been too much accustomed, in early life, to see people of condition, to
betray the same deference as her husband for the boy's rank. The ladies
occupied, as usual, the hind seat of the coach, leaving that in front to
their male companions. The arrangement accidentally brought Mildred and
the midshipman opposite each other; a circumstance that soon attracted
the attention of the admiral, in a way that was a little odd; if not
remarkable. There is a charm in youth, that no other period of life
possesses; infancy, with its helpless beauty, scarcely seizing upon the
imagination and senses with an equal force. Both the young persons in
question, possessed this advantage in a high degree; and had there been
no other peculiarity, the sight might readily have proved pleasing to
one of Bluewater's benevolence and truth of feeling. The boy was turned
of sixteen; an age in England when youth does not yet put on the
appearance of manhood; and he retained all the evidences of a gay,
generous boyhood, rendered a little _piquant_, by the dash of archness,
roguery, and fun, that a man-of-war is tolerably certain to impart to a
lad of spirit. Nevertheless, his countenance retained an expression of
ingenuousness and of sensitive feeling, that was singularly striking in
one of his sex, and which, in spite of her beauty of feature, hair, and
complexion, formed the strongest attraction in the loveliness of
Mildred; that expression, which had so much struck and charmed
Bluewater--haunted him, we might add--since the previous day, by
appearing so familiar, even while so extraordinary, and for which he had
been unable to recollect a counterpart. As she now sat, face to face
with Lord Geoffrey, to his great surprise, the rear-admiral found much
of the same character of this very expre