ken to be a father's affection only. (We were walking at the time
up and down in the pasture below the garden; and the house lay visible
among the gardens, very fair and peaceful with the sunlight upon it.)

"She will be something of an heiress," he said; "and when I say that, I
do not mean that she will have as many acres as yourself. But she will
have near a thousand pound a year so soon as poor Tom Jermyn dies: and I
may die any day, for I am short in the neck, and might very well be
taken with an apoplexy. I wish above all things then, to see her safely
married before I go--to some solid man who will care for her. There is a
plenty of Protestants about here that would have her; for she is a
wonderful housewife, and as pure as Diana too."

He paused at that; and looked at me in that cunning way of his that I
misliked so much. Yet even now I did not see what he would be at; for
gentlemen do not usually fling their daughters at the head of any man;
and he knew nothing of me but that I was pretty rich and would be more
so one day. But I suppose that that was enough for him.

"I had thought at one time," he went on, "of sending her to Court. I
could get her in, under the protection of my Lady Arlington. But the
Court is no place for a maiden who knows nothing of the world. What
would you advise, Cousin Roger? I would not have her marry a Protestant,
if I could help it."

And with that he looked at me again.

Then, all of a sudden I saw his meaning; and my heart stood still; for
not only did his words reveal him to me, but myself also; and I
understood why he had questioned me so closely in town, as to my
fortune. I cannot say at this time that I loved my Cousin Dolly--for I
had not known that I loved her--but his words were very effective.
Indeed I had not thought to marry, though I was free to do so; for a
novice does not quickly shake off his monkishness. I had thought far
more of the mission I was come to England upon, and what I could
accomplish, with God's blessing, for Christ and His Church. But, as I
say, my heart stood still when my cousin said that to me; for, as in a
vision, I saw myself here as her husband, and her as my wife, in this
house among its gardens. Here we might live a life which even the angels
might envy--harmless, innocent, separate from sinners, as the Apostle
says--not accomplishing, maybe, any great things, but at least
refraining from the hindering of God's Kingdom. The summers would come