t the captain held a seat in the House of Commons
and that he voted with the ministry; and further, that his vote might,
when required, be forthcoming, the frigate was never sea-going, except
during the recess. It must be admitted that H.M. ship Paragon did
occasionally get under weigh and remain cruising in sight of land for
two or three days, until the steward reported that the milk provided for
the captain's table was turning sour; upon which important information
the helm was immediately put up, and the frigate, in a case of such
extreme distress, would drop her anchor at the nearest port under her
lee. Now as the Paragon was constantly at Spithead, Captain Delmar was
very attentive in visiting his aunt, who lived at Madeline Hall;
ill-natured people asserted, because she had so fine an estate in her
own gift. Certain it is, that he would remain there for weeks, which
gave great satisfaction to the old lady, who liked her nephew, liked
attention, and was even so peculiar as to like sailors. But it must be
observed that there was another person at the mansion who also liked the
captain, liked attention, and liked sailors; this was Miss Arabella
Mason, a very pretty young woman of eighteen years of age, who
constantly looked in the glass merely to ascertain if she had ever seen
a face which she preferred to her own, and who never read any novel
without discovering that there was a remarkable likeness between the
heroine and her pretty self.

Miss Arabella Mason was the eldest daughter of the steward of the old
Lord de Versely, brother to the Honourable Miss Delmar, and was much
respected by his lordship for his fidelity and his knowledge of
business, in the transaction of which he fell, for he was felling trees,
and a tree fell upon him. He left a widow and two daughters: it was
said that at his death Mrs Mason was not badly off, as her husband had
been very careful of his earnings. Mrs Mason, however, did not
corroborate this statement; on the contrary, she invariably pleaded
poverty; and the Honourable Miss Delmar, after Lord de Versely's death--
which happened soon after that of his steward--sent both the daughters
to be educated at a country school, where, as everything that is taught
is second-rate, young ladies, of course, receive a second-rate
education. Mrs Mason was often invited by the Honourable Miss Delmar
to spend a month at Madeline Hall, and used to bring her eldest
daughter, who had left school,