"We now retired to the house for tea, where the knights, having dismounted, followed us, and paid homage to their fair ones, from each of whom they received a favour. The ball then succeeded, which lasted till nine, when the company distributed themselves at the windows and doors to view fireworks of marvellous beauty, ending with a grand illumination of the arch. More dancing then occupied us, till we were summoned to supper, which was served in a saloon one hundred and eighty feet long, gaily painted and decorated; and made brilliant by a great number of lustres hung from the roof, while looking-glasses, chandeliers, and girandoles decked the walls, the whole enlivened by garlands of flowers and festoons of silk and ribbons. Here we were waited upon by twenty-four negroes in blue and white turbans and party-coloured clothes and sashes, whilst the most pathetic music was performed by a concealed band. Toasts to the king and queen, the royal family, the army and navy, with their respective commanders, the knights and their ladies, and the ladies in general, were drunk in succession, each followed by a flourish of music, when once again the dancing was resumed, and lasted till the orb of day intruded his presence upon us. "Sir William left us at noon to-day, regretted by the whole army, and, as I write this, I can hear a salute of guns in honour of Sir Henry Clinton's assuming the command. Pray Heaven he does not remove dadda. "At last I know, Tibbie, what court life must be like." Three days after the departure of Howe, the squire came into dinner, a paper in hand, and with a beaming face. "Fine news!" he observed. "I am not to be displaced." "Good!" cried the commissary, while Janice clapped her hands. "I spoke to Sir Henry strongly in your favour, and am joyed to hear that it has borne fruit." "How dost thou know, Lambert?" asked Mrs. Meredith. "I have here an order to load the 'Rose' tender with such rebel property as the commissaries shall designate, and superintend its removal to New York. They 'd ne'er employ me on so long a job, were I marked to lose my employment, eh, Clowes?" "Well reasoned. For 't is not merely a task of time, but one of confidence. But look ye, man, if ye 're indeed to make a voyage to York and back, which will likely take a month, 't is best that we settle this question of marriage ere ye go. I've given Miss Janice time, I think ye'll grant, and 't will be an advantage in your absence that she and Mrs. Meredith have one bound to protect them." "I'd say ay in a moment, Clowes, but for my word to Hennion." "'T is a promise thou shouldst ne'er have made, and which it is now thy every interest to be quit of, let alone that 't is so distasteful to thy daughter." "A promise is a promise," answered the father, with an obstinate motion of head. "And a fool 's a fool," retorted Clowes, losing his temper. "In counsel and aid I've done my best for ye; now go your gait, and see what comes of it."