Two years had passed by. Colonel Verner, now a general, with his
daughter, had returned to England, and they were spending some weeks
during the summer at the house of a friend, Admiral Sir J. B--, in the
Isle of Wight, in the neighbourhood of the then pretty little village of
Ryde. Alice looked thinner and paler than formerly, but her beauty was
in no way impaired, and the sweet smile which lit up her countenance--
one of its chief charms when she spoke, was still there. She had
accompanied her father and the admiral on a walk into Ryde. When some
little distance from the village, they met a fine dignified-looking man,
his silvery hair showing that his age was greater than would have been
supposed from his florid, clear complexion. An undress naval uniform
set off his fine figure to advantage. The admiral looked at him for a
Element, and then shaking him cordially by the hand, inquired what
brought him to Ryde.
"I have taken a cottage in the neighbourhood for my son's sake when he
comes home, for as I have quitted the service I shall always be ready to
receive him," was the answer.
"Oh, then we are near neighbours. Come over and dine with me to-day. I
like to talk over by-gone days with an old shipmate," said the admiral.
The stranger accepted the invitation, and after a little more
conversation, he walked on.
"A distinguished man," observed General Verner, when the admiral
rejoined him.
"A right noble and brave man," said the admiral, but made no further
remark.
The stranger was in the drawing-room when Miss Verner entered, and was
soon engaged in an animated conversation with her. She thought him
somewhat old-fashioned in his phraseology, perhaps, and mode of
pronunciation, but she had so frequently heard officers of high rank
speak in the same way, that she was not surprised, and as he had seen a
great deal of the world, and described well what he had seen, she was
much interested. As she listened, she felt her interest increase, and
became insensibly drawn towards the old gentleman. As there were many
married ladies present, she was led out among the first, and so she did
not see when he left the room, which might have given her an idea as to
his rank, but she found herself sitting next to him at dinner. Her
father was opposite, and appeared to be much interested in his
conversation. According to the good old custom, the admiral drank wine
round with all his guests. "Mr Ripley, will you take wine?" he said,
addressing her companion in his kind friendly tone. She started, and
she felt the blood rush to her cheeks. She had not recovered from her
confusion before the ceremony of wine-taking was over, and the old
gentleman again addressed her. Could he be the father of Pearce? She
had always understood that his father was a boatswain, and this old
gentleman could not be that, or he would scarcely have been dining at
the admiral's table. Her father would make the inquiry probably of the
admiral; if not, she must try to muster courage to do so. In the mean
time she would ask her companion if he knew Sir Pearce Ripley. In a low
and somewhat trembling voice she put the question.
"Indeed I do, young lady, and am proud to own him as my son," answered
the old seaman, fixing his clear grey eyes on her, as if he would read
her heart. "I have a hope that you know him too, and that no two people
love him better in the world," he added in a whisper.
Alice felt her cheeks glow, and yet she was not annoyed. "Indeed you
are right," she said, in a low tone, which she hoped no one else would
hear, for several people were speaking loudly, and there was a clatter
of knives and forks.
"He will be in England again soon to refit, for he has allowed his
frigate very little rest since he commanded her," observed the old
gentleman. "He, I hope too, will then get a spell at home, for since he
went to sea at ten years of age, he has never once been ten days on
shore at a time, ay, I may say, not a month altogether."
Alice whispered her hope that he would remain on shore. After retiring
to the drawing-room she looked anxiously for the arrival of the
gentlemen. Her father and Mr Ripley entered together. The general
soon came and sat down by her.
"A very agreeable old naval officer that is we've been talking to," he
remarked; "I did not catch his name, but the admiral tells me that he is
a master in the service."
Alice was pleased to hear this, but much puzzled. She managed to speak
to the admiral when no one was near. He put on a quizzical look. "Now,
young lady, if you had been inquiring about Sir Pearce Ripley, his son,
I should not have been surprised," he answered. "The fact is, my friend
Ripley became a master late in life. He had served in the lower grades
of the profession, and if the rules of the service had allowed it, he
should have been made a post-captain. I cannot tell you all the brave
things he has done. When in charge of a prize, he fought a most gallant
action; he prevented his ship's company from joining the mutineers at
the Nore. On two several occasions, he saved the ship from being
wrecked, not to mention his conduct on the first of June, and on
numerous previous occasions. I placed his son on the quarterdeck,
predicting that he would be an honour to the service, and so he is, and
I am proud of him."
While the admiral was speaking, Alice was considering whether she should
confide her case to him, and beg him to intercede with her father, or
rather to speak to him of Mr Ripley in a way which might overcome his
prejudices. She almost gasped for breath in her agitation, but her
resolution was taken, and without loss of time she hurriedly told him of
her engagement to Sir Pearce Ripley.
"I am heartily glad to hear of it, my dear young lady," exclaimed the
admiral warmly; "he is worthy of you and you are of him, and that is
saying a great deal for you. Hoity toity! I wonder my friend General
Verner has not more sense; the idea of dismissing one of the finest
officers in the service because he hasn't a rent-roll and cannot show a
pedigree as many do a yard long, and without a word of truth from
beginning to end. If a man is noble in himself what does it matter who
his father was? The best pedigree, in my opinion, is that which a man's
grandson will have to show. Better to have one noble fellow like old
Ripley there for a father, than a line of twenty indifferent
progenitors, such as nine-tenths of those who set such store by their
ancestry can boast of."
Alice very naturally agreed with the admiral, who was himself a man of
much older family than her father. He attacked the general the next
morning. He hated circumlocution and went directly to the point. "You
object to your daughter marrying Sir Pearce Ripley because his father
was a boatswain. I tell you I was for many years of inferior rank to a
boatswain. I entered the navy as captain's servant. What do you say to
that? It does not signify what a man has been, it is what he is should
be considered. Now, my dear general, just clap all such nonsense under
hatches, and the next time young Ripley asks your daughter to marry him,
let her, and be thankful that you have secured so fine a son-in-law and
so excellent a husband for the girl."
General Verner had not a word of reply to his friend's remonstrance.
The admiral, when he met Alice, exclaimed, "I've been pouring my
broadsides into your father till I left him without a stick standing and
every gun dismounted; if you give him a shot depend on't he'll strike
his flag."