"He might do worse," said Mr. Gage. "Sailors are so _inconséquent_. They often marry the most extraordinary persons--people that one never has heard of. Miss Capel, however, seems highly respectable. But," he added in a low tone, "to put that little doll in competition with such a woman as Harriet! Hubert need not fear me for a rival." "Very fortunately," said Elizabeth smiling, "it would be dreadful if we were to have the Theban brothers over again." "They fought for a crown, not a woman," said Mr. Gage, "being wise men." "Is Mr. Gage very amusing to you, Bessy?" said Harriet, looking back, "that you don't come to join our party?" Elizabeth good-naturedly quickened her steps, and Harriet said aloud to Margaret, "It is a charity to break in upon their tête-à-tête, for Mr. Gage has grown so dull, I think he must have caught cold on the race ground." Margaret looked frightened, and Mr. Gage pretended not to hear Harriet's speech. Margaret was very happy during her stay at Chirke Weston. Hubert Gage was always paying her compliments which she laughed at, and contriving all sorts of schemes for her amusement, for which she was much obliged. She became every day more attached to Elizabeth; she admired her character, and loved her sweetness; and it was delightful to see the terms upon which she lived with her father and brothers. George Gage paid Margaret the most devoted attentions whenever he wished to pique Harriet, and at other times consigned her to the care of Hubert, as if he had too much delicacy to interfere with his brother's pretensions. Fortunately, she found amusement in the society of both brothers, without allowing their courtesies to penetrate her heart. CHAPTER XIII. And she will die ere she make her love known; and she will die if he woo her, rather than she will 'bate one breath of her accustomed coyness. MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. It was the last day of Margaret's stay. Harriet was also to leave Chirke Weston the next morning. She was standing with Margaret in one of the drawing-room windows after breakfast, making her promise over and over again that she would come and see her at her uncle Singleton's, when Lord Raymond drove up to the house in his dog-cart. He produced out of this vehicle the two pointers which Harriet had been anxious to see; and, on a signal from her hand, he brought them up to the window where she was standing.