The wedding day had been put off, in
consequence of these proceedings, but the parties
now met in the church, which was crowded
with officers, including nearly the entire
medical staff, who were curious to witness the
spectacle. There stood the tall and handsome
English aristocrat, and beside him his coal-
black bride, dressed in garments of red silk
trimmed with yellow and gold tinsel. The
ensign acted as the interpreter, and explained
to Ellen in Hindoostanee the vows she was
required to take. This made the ceremony
a very long one. When it was concluded, the
bride got into her palanquin and was carried
home. The bridegroom mounted his pony,
and rode by her side.

Ellen—now the Honourable Mrs. Gay—
was a girl of great natural ability, of an
excellent disposition and was blessed with an
excellent temper. She had, moreover, a very
sweet voice. After her marriage she was
never seen by any European in Cawnpore,
except her husband. It was believed that
the ensign saved more than two-thirds of
his pay, which Ellen, who had an excellent
idea of business, used to lend out in small
sums to people in the bazaar at the rate of
fifty per cent. per mensem. If she lent a
rupee (two shillings), she would get back at
the end of the month a rupee and eight
annas (three shillings) by way of interest.

A year passed away, and a son and heir was
born to the Honourable Francis Gay. The
child had light blue eyes exactly like those of
his father, but his complexion was quite as
black as his mother's. When the child was
three months old, it was brought to the
church, and publicly christened. Mr. Gay
and the pay-sergeant of the company he
belonged to, being the god-fathers, and Ellen
the godmother. The names given to the
infant were Ernest, Augustus, George,
Francis, Frederick: such being the names
respectively of Lord Millflower's sons. Ernest
was the eldest, Augustus the second, George
the third, Francis the fourth, and Frederick
the fifth and youngest. Not long after the
birth of his son, Ensign Gay obtained his
promotion to the rank of lieutenant, and
received, of course, an increase of pay.

Fever became prevalent, and cholera.
Several of the captains and senior lieutenants
fell victims; and in less than three years
lieutenant Gay got his company (the regiment
was now at Meerut), and retired from the
army by the sale of his captain's commission.
It was supposed that he was worth a great
deal of money—a lac of rupees (ten thousand
pounds) at the very least. Whither he went,
no one knew, and no one cared. One of the
servants—whom he discharged previous to
leaving the station of Meerut—said he
believed that his master had gone either to
Afghanistan or to Lahore.

Let us now return to Europe. A few
years after Captain Gay had sold out of the
army, his eldest brother, Lord Larkspeare,
was killed while grouse shooting, by the
accidental discharge of his gun; his second
brother, Augustus, a captain in the army,
was lost in a vessel which was bringing him
home from Canada; his third brother, George,
died of small pox three days after he had
taken his father's second title. Of his son
Francis's marriage, Lord Millflower had been
informed, and also of the birth of the black
child, the Honourable Ernest Augustus George
Francis Frederick Gay. Colonel Role had
deemed it his duty not to withhold these facts,
albeit they were disagreeable to communicate
to the noble earl. Lord Millflower begged
of Colonel Role to institute an inquiry into
the fate of his Francis, and the colonel did
so but without success. No clue to his
whereabout could be discovered, nor could
any one say what had become of him.
Under these circumstances it was taken for
granted that he was dead. Another five
years passed away, and the Earl of
Millflower departed this life. He was, of course,
succeeded in his titles and estates by his son
Frederick.

Now, let us return to Francis. He became
a dealer in precious stones, and travelled over
the whole of India, under the name of Mustapha
Khan, visiting the various native courts.
Every tour that he made, occupied him three
years. Constantly moving about in the sun
had tanned his once fair face; and, neither
from his appearance, for he was dressed as a
native, nor from his speech, could the natives
themselves detect that he was an European.
He gave out that his birthplace was Nepaul,
where the natives are sometimes born with
blue eyes. He bought and sold, and was
apparently very happy in his occupation.
His wife and son invariably accompanied him
in his travels. He had never written to his
family since his arrival in India, and had not
received letters from any member thereof.
India he loved, England he detested, and
would not have taken up his father's title if
it had been a dukedom. He never approached
the abode of an European, and never saw a
newspaper. He was not likely, therefore, to
hear of the changes that had taken place at
home. In the bazaar at Delhi, Captain Gay
had a small house, in which were deposited
his effects, a few boxes filled with clothes,
books, &c., his sword, and the uniform he
used formerly to wear. These were under
the care of a man-servant—a sweeper. The
bulk of his worldly wealth he invariably
carried about his person, as many natives of
India do.

Ernest Gay was now twelve years of age.
He was usually called by his parents Chandee,
a word signifying silver. Chandee was clever
and cunning, and had a wonderful talent for
calculating numbers. In less than a minute,
by counting on his fingers, he would tell you
the interest due on such sums as three rupees,
five annas, and seven pic, for twenty-one
days, at forty-one three-fourth per cent.