But nothing is a wonder in love, or else it would have been amazing that Joanna did not notice the rose absent from her sister's dress after Captain Hyde's departure; nor yet that Katherine, ere she went to rest that night, kissed fervently a tiny bit of paper which she hid within the silver clasps of her Kirk Bible. The loving girl thought it no wrong to put it there; she even hoped that some kind of blessing or sanction might come through such sacred keeping; and she went to sleep whispering to herself,--"_Happy I am. Me he loves; me he loves; me only he loves; me forever he loves_!" [Illustration: Tail-piece] [Illustration: Chapter heading] V. "_All pleasure must be bought at the price of pain. The true pay the price before they enjoy it; the false, after they enjoy it_." "My dear Dick, I am exceedingly concerned to find you in such a taking,--a soldier who has known some of the finest women of the day, moping about a Dutch school-girl! Pshaw! Don't be a fool! I had a much better opinion of you." "'Tis a kind of folly that runs in the family, aunt. I have heard that you preferred Colonel Gordon to a duke." "Now, sir, you are ill-natured. Dukes are not uncommon: a man of sense and sensibility is a treasure. Make me grateful that I secured one." "Lend me your wit, then, for the same consummation. I assure you that I consider Katherine Van Heemskirk a treasure past belief. Confess, now, that she was the loveliest of creatures last night." "She has truly a fine complexion, and she dances with all the elegance imaginable. I know, too, that she sings to perfection, and has most agreeable and obliging manners." "And a heart which abounds in every tender feeling." "Oh, indeed, sir! I was not aware that you knew her so well." "I know that I love her beyond everything, and that I am likely so to love her all my life." "Upon my word, Dick, love may live an age--if you don't marry it." "Let me make you understand that I wish to marry it." "Oh, indeed, sir! Then the church door stands open. Go in. I suppose the lady will oblige you so far." "Pray, my dear aunt, talk sensibly. Give me your advice; you know already that I value it. What is the first step to be taken?" "Go and talk with her father. I assure you, no real progress can be made without it. The girl you think worth asking for; but it is very necessary for you to know what fortune goes with her beauty." "If her father refuse to give her to me"-- "That is not to be thought of. I have seen that some of the best of these Dutch families are very willing to be friendly with us. You come of a noble race. You wear your sword with honour. You are not far from the heritage of a great title and estate. If you ask for her fortune, you offer far above its equivalent, sir." "I have heard Mr. Neil Semple say that Van Heemskirk is a great stickler for trade, and that he hates every man who wears a sword."