were then wont to style themselves. Mary
Chambellan was not, certainly, the belle of
the wedding ball-room, and by no means equal
in fortune or social position to most of the
women present; but whether from perverseness,
or caprice, or love of novelty, Henry
Pollexfen was attracted by her, and devoted
himself to her exclusively.

The next York Assembly was to take place
in a few days; and this young man, who did
not know what contradiction meant, made
Mary promise to be his partner there. Old
Mr. Chambellan, however, who thought his
daughter had been away from home quite
long enough, fetched her back himself on the
following day; and Mary would as soon have
dared to ask to go to the moon as to remain
to go to the assembly. Henry Pollexfen was
extremely disappointed 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 towards 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 honourable 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, whilst Mary would be not
quite nineteen. He wrote paternal letters to
Mary and polite epistles to her father. He
even applied at head-quarters for leave of
absence for his son ; whom he immediately
summoned up to London, where his own
duties, as Member of Parliament, would
detain him for some time.

Under any other circumstances, Captain
Pollexfen would have been delighted with
this arrangement; but, as it was, he would
infinitely have preferred being allowed to
marry Mary at once. However, there was
no help for it. Old Mr. Chambellan, himself,
urged the duty of immediate obedience to his
father's summons, and Pollexfen departed.

For many weeks his letters were as
frequent as the post would carry them. He was
very miserable under the separation; and,
much as she loved him, Mary could not wish
him to be otherwise. His regiment was
suddenly ordered abroad; the necessary hurry
of preparation, and the order to join his
detachment at Canterbury without delay,
rendered it quite impossible for Captain Pollexfen
to see Mary before his departure. He
wrote her a tender farewell, sent her his
picture, and exhorted her to write frequently,
and never to forget him for an instant:
promising, of course, everlasting constancy for
himself.

There was little chance that Mary should
forget him, in that old lonely house, without
either friends or neighbours. Besides, the
possibility of ceasing to love her affianced
husband never occurred to her. With Captain
Pollexfen it was different. Under no
circumstances was his a character that would bear
absence unchanged; and the distraction of
foreign scenes, and the excitement of his
profession, soon banished the image of Mary from
his mind. At length he felt it a great bore
that he was engaged to be married. The
regiment remained sixteen months absent, and
he heartily hoped that she would have
forgotten him.

Mary's father died shortly after her lover's
departure; the family property descended to
her brothers, and she was left entirely
dependent upon them. Captain Pollexfen's
letters had entirely ceased; Mary had
received no communication for more than six
months, when she saw the return of his regiment
announced, and his name gazetted as
colonel. He, however, neither came to see her,
nor wrote to her, and Mary became seriously
ill. She could no longer conceal her sufferings
from her brothers. Under the impression
that she was actually dying, they wrote to her
lover, demanding the cause of his silence, and