"I don't know--was I?" said Stratton dejectedly. "Of course, sir. Acting the timid lover with the old result!" cried Sir Mark angrily. Stratton gazed excitedly in his face; there was so much meaning in his words. "There," continued the admiral; "but it must come, sir, and you must bear it like a man. My child, Myra, has accepted my friend Mr Barron, and the marriage is to take place almost at once." Stratton stood for a few moments gazing in Sir Mark's face, as if he failed to grasp the full tenor of his words. Then, turning slowly, and without a word, he left the room, walked back to his quaint, panelled chambers, and hid his despair from the eyes of man. CHAPTER TEN. AN UNOPENED BUD. Myra Jerrold stood looking very calm and statuesque, with James Barron holding her hand. "Yes," he said, "I am going now, but only for a few hours. I cannot live away from you. Only a fortnight now, Myra, and then good-bye to cold England. I take you to a land of beauty, of sunny skies, and joy and love." "Can any land be as beautiful as that which holds one's home?" she said. "No," replied Barron quickly, "but that will be your home." "Trinidad," said Myra thoughtfully; "so many thousand miles away." "Bah! what are a few thousand miles now? A journey in a floating hotel to a place where you can telegraph to your father's door--instantaneous messages, and receive back the replies." "But still so far," said Myra dreamily. "Try and drive away such thoughts, dearest," whispered Barron. "I shall be there. And besides, Sir Mark will run over and see us; and Edith, too, with her husband." Myra's manner changed. The dreaminess passed away and she looked quickly in her betrothed's eyes. "Yes, I always thought so," he said merrily. "'Tis love that makes the world go round. That Mr Stratton, your old friend, is below. Don't you understand?" "No," said Myra quietly, "not quite." "I think you do, dearest," he said, trying to pass his arm round her, but she shrank gently away. "Very well," he said, kissing her hand, "I can wait. You will not always be so cold. Mr Stratton came to see your father on business, looking the lover from head to foot. I was sent up to you, and soon after our dear little Edie is summoned to the library. Come, don't look so innocent, darling. You do understand." "That Mr Stratton has come to propose for Edie's hand?" "Of course." Myra's brow contracted a little, and there was a puzzled look in her eyes as she said gently: "Yes, he has been very attentive to her often. Well, I like Mr Stratton very much, Mr Barron." "James," he said reproachfully. "James," she said, as if repeating a lesson, in a dreamy tone, and her eyes were directed toward the door. "I like him, too, now that I am quite safe. There was a time, dear, when I first came here, and had my doubts. I fancied a rival in Mr Stratton."