inted when he found that Miss Chambellan had returned home; but he
was too much caressed and sought after to be able to think long about the
matter, and so his sudden fancy soon passed away.

In the autumn of the same year he met one of her brothers in the hunting
field. Accident threw them together toward the close of a hard day's run;
when, in clearing a stone fence, some loose stones were dislodged, and
struck Captain Pollexfen's horse, laming him severely. Night was coming
on; it was impossible to return to his quarters on foot; and young
Chambellan invited his fellow-sportsman to go home with him--Halsted Hall
being the nearest habitation. The invitation was accepted. Although old
Mr. Chambellan would as soon have opened his doors to a dragon; yet even
he could find no fault under the circumstances, and was constrained to
welcome their dangerous guest with old-fashioned hospitality. He soon
became so charmed with his visitor, that he invited him to return, and the
visitor gladly did so.

His almost forgotten admiration for Mary revived in full force the moment
he saw her again. He soon fell desperately and seriously in love with her.
Mary's strong and gentle character assumed great influence over his
mercurial and impetuous disposition. That she became deeply attached to
him was nothing wonderful; she could scarcely have helped it, even if he
had not sought to win her affections.

In a short time, he made proposals of marriage for her to her father, who
willingly consented, feeling, if the truth must be told, very much
flattered at the prospect of such a son-in-law.

Henry Pollexfen then wrote a dutiful letter to his own father, telling him
how much he was in love, and how earnestly he desired permission to follow
his inclinations. Old Mr. Pollexfen had, like many other fathers, set his
heart upon his son's making a brilliant match; and although, after
consulting the "History of Yorkshire," where he found honorable mention
made of the Chambellan family, he could offer no objection on the score of
birth; yet he thought his son might do better. He was too wise to make any
direct opposition; on the contrary, he gave his conditional consent, only
stipulating for time. He required that twelve months should elapse before
the marriage took place, when his son would be little more than
two-and-twenty, while Mary would be not quite nineteen. He wrote paternal
letters to Mary, and polite epistles to her father. He even app