ur, in which he had tacitly, if not avowedly, acquiesced. It was
certainly very flattering that her charms had proved sufficiently
powerful to make him forget it; but that he should have yielded to the
temptation without the slightest appearance of a struggle, did
somewhat surprise her, as indeed, from their knowledge of his
character, it did Mr and Mrs Gaskoin. Not that they would have
expected him to adhere to the contract, if doing so proved repugnant
either to himself or the young lady; but under all the circumstances
of the case, they would have thought his conduct less open to
exception, if he had deferred entering into any other engagement till
he had seen Miss Seymour. It was true, that he had not yet offered his
hand to his friend Gaskoin's charming niece; but neither she, nor any
one else, entertained a doubt of his intention to do so; and Frances
never found herself alone with him, that her heart did not beat high
with the expectation of what might be coming.

The progress of love affairs is no measure of time: where the
_attrait_, or magnetic rapport (for perhaps magnetism has something to
do with the mystery), is very strong, one couple will make as much way
in a fortnight as another will do in a year. In the present instance,
Major Elliott's proclivity to fall in love with Frances may have been
aided by his persuasion that she was the niece of his friend. Be that
as it may, on the thirteenth day of his visit, Major Elliott invited
his host to join him in a walk, in the course of which he avowed his
intention of offering his hand to Miss Gaskoin, provided her family
were not likely to make any serious objection to the match. 'My reason
for mentioning the subject so early is,' said he, 'that, in the first
place, I cannot prolong my visit; I have already broken two
engagements, and now, however unwillingly, I must be off: and, in the
second place, I felt myself bound to mention the subject to you before
speaking to Miss Gaskoin, because you know how I am situated in regard
to money-matters; and that I cannot, unfortunately, make such a
settlement as may be expected by her friends.'

'I don't think that will be any obstacle to your wishes,' answered Mr
Gaskoin, with an arch smile. 'If you can find Fanny in the humour,
I'll undertake to answer for all the rest. As for her fortune, she'll
have something at all events--but that is a subject, I suppose, you
are too much in love to discuss.'

'It is one there is