Lady Castleton appeared, however, much to require the surgeon's attention. She had remarked the agitation Mr Hastings' appearance had caused her husband, and dreaded the effect it might produce on him. She frequently inquired whether he had yet come out of the study, and Julia could with difficulty prevent her from attempting to get up, and join him there. The general, who had been bustling about the house, giving directions to the servants, and trying to entertain the other guests, at length entered the drawing-room to which Lady Castleton had been conveyed. There she lay, still unable to move, on a sofa. "Oh, General Sampson, who is that terrible man?" she exclaimed, catching a glimpse of the general, who, not aware that she was there, was about to retire. "They tell me that he is a ruffian called Gaffin, but my friend Harry and the dragoons will soon give a good account of him, I suspect," answered the general, not understanding her question. "The person who is now with Sir Ralph," cried Lady Castleton; "he called himself Mr Hastings." "I beg your ladyship ten thousand pardons," answered the general. "I had no idea of whom you were speaking. There is nothing terrible about him; he is a most gentlemanly refined person, has evidently mixed in good society all his life. He tells me that I knew him in our younger days, and he is certainly an old acquaintance of Sir Ralph's." Julia was perfectly ready to believe the general's account, and assisted him at length in sufficiently calming her mother's fears to induce her to retire to her chamber. At last the hungry guests, whose dinner had been so long postponed, assembled in the dining-room, where they were joined by the master of the house and Mr Hastings. Sir Ralph still looked nervous, and instead of exhibiting his usual self-possession, his manner was subdued, and his mind evidently distracted, as he appeared frequently not to have heard the remarks made to him. He treated Mr Hastings with the most marked attention, while he seemed almost at times to forget the presence of the marquis and his other titled guests. Julia excused herself from coming downstairs on the plea of having to attend to her mother. The general tried to make amends for Sir Ralph's want of attention to his guests, and talked away for the whole party. "I hope, Mr Hastings," said the general, drawing him aside after dinner, "you have convinced my friend Sir Ralph that your gallant son is a fit match for his fair daughter, Miss Julia. I should like to be able to give the young lady a hint to calm her anxiety on the subject." "I think, my dear general, that her father will no longer object to the match; but I have agreed to retain my incognito till the arrival of my son, whose ship was announced as having reached Spithead yesterday evening, and as I obtained leave for him at the Admiralty, he will come on here at once."