His informant added, that though the young officer was not rich, he was of prepossessing manners—a piece of information which scarcely appeared to afford gratification to the master of Coombe Hall. Immediately upon receipt of this news the angry colonel sought out Miss Thorpe from among the dancers, and after bidding a hasty adieu to his hostess, drove away with his daughter from the house. Colonel Thorpe’s temper was not improved when, on the day following the ball, he received a call from Ainslie; but in a short political conversation which ensued, the visitor—strangely enough—contrived to advance in his good graces considerably. Still, the colonel, who was habitually suspicious, did not encourage the young officer. He had only the doubtful satisfaction of knowing that the penniless son of Sir Henry Ainslie, deceased, was a suitor for his daughter’s hand. ‘Amy,’ he said to himself, ‘must return to Coombe Hall. The wiles of this dangerous young man can be kept at a safe distance there.’ But railways were as yet things of the future, and the weather became an unexpected ally in Ainslie’s favour, the colonel’s departure being thus delayed for fully a week. During this time Reginald contrived to see Miss Thorpe several times, as well as to ingratiate himself with her father, who listened to his visitor’s conversation and wit with a mingled feeling of approval and distrust. The time passed quickly; and when Reginald parted from Amy Thorpe it was with many protestations of eternal devotion, to which that young lady replied with equal warmth. Colonel Thorpe wished Ainslie a formal ‘Good-bye,’ and the lovers were separated from each other for a weary space of ten months. The interval was not unfraught with change. Reginald had the good fortune to be raised in rank, and now entered upon his full grade of lieutenant. Since the departure of Amy Thorpe he had endeavoured to keep up a correspondence with her; but the age in which they lived, though practically a fast one, was slow enough in some respects, and the means of communication were so unsatisfactory, that long intervals elapsed between an interchange of letters.