hear
what might follow. He spoke calmly: "Yes, a few short weeks seem not
longer than as many hours; and now I fear, dearest, we must part, though
it may be but for a short period. I may obtain leave to return with the
`Saint Cecilia,' or you must travel south by a shorter route through
England, and thence on to Spain. I cannot shield you, I fear, from some
of the inconveniences to which sailors' wives are exposed."

"Leave me! Oh, no, no!" exclaimed Hilda, passionately. "Take me with
you. I cannot be parted from you! You tell me you love me: it would be
but cruel love to kill me; and I tell you I could not survive our
separation. I speak the truth--oh, believe me, Hernan,--I do!"

The Spanish captain looked at her as if he doubted her assertion; but he
would indeed have been a sceptic as to the depth of the power of woman's
affection had he longer continued to doubt when he saw her beseeching
and almost agonised countenance turned on him, waiting for his decision.

"But can you, Hilda, endure all the hardships and dangers we may have to
go through?" he asked. "We may be exposed to furious tempests, and
perhaps have to fight more than one battle, before we reach a Spanish
port."

"Yes, yes, I can endure everything you have to suffer," she answered,
taking his hand in one of hers, while she placed the other on his
shoulder, and looked up into his face as if she would read his inward
soul. "Why should I fear the tempest when you are on board, or the
battle, while I can stand by your side? Take me with you, Hernan.
Prove me, and I shall not be found wanting."

"Hilda, you are a brave woman--you have conquered my resolution. We
will go together," he exclaimed, clasping her to his heart.

The shriek of joy she gave showed the intensity of her anxiety, and how
it had been relieved by this announcement.

Still Don Hernan lingered. Was it that he was unwilling to tear himself
away from a spot where he had spent some of the brightest moments of his
existence? Had he other less ostensible motives for delay?

Hilda's announcement of her intended departure was received in silence
by Sandy Redland, the factor, and David Cheyne, the old butler. The
former, perhaps, was not ill-content to have the entire management of
the estate left in his hands. Nanny Clousta, without hesitation, agreed
to accompany her mistress, and thus the only person who really grieved
for Hilda's departure was Bertha Eswick. She walked