CHAPTER XII.
I DEFY DEAR LADY GRIMSTONE.
It was a late hour when the lady apparently exposed
her soul. She had not one to expose, it is
true, but the Captain was deluded into thinking
that she had, and persuasion is more powerful than
fact. Her father was her blood, her breath; his
honour was her own. The Captain gave her the
humble admiration of a soldier. Daughters of this
mould, who could worship a parent in this manner,
must always command the tender reverence of one
whose dream was to be the diligent servant of his
country. He was also touched. Men of the sword
are very human, he informed her. It was a relief,
she replied, to have that on such eminent authority,
because, to avenge the joyous escapade of an innocent girl,
a soldier had proposed to treat her venerable
sire with a brutality that was incredible.
She did not refine her language to his delicate ear.
How could she, being moved so deeply? Did not
her lips twitch with feeling, her eyes flash with passion?
Alas the Captain! He might have seen
"the drums and tramplings of three conquests," but,
being human, could he resist her generous anguish,
