Guy Mannering.

GUY MANNERING. 215
"' Chaplain, papa? Lord bless us!'
"'Yes, Miss Mannering, chaplain; is there any thing
very new in that word? Had we not a chaplain at the
Residence, when we were in India?'
"'Yes, papa, but you was a commandant then.'
"' So I will be now, Miss Mannering,-in my own
family at least.'
"' Certainly, sir. But will he read us the Church of
England service?'
"The apparent simplicity with which I asked this question got the better of his gravity.'Come, Julia,' he said,'you are a sad girl, but I gain nothing by scolding you.
Of these two strangers, the young lady is one whom you
cannot fail, I think, to love;-the person whom, for
want of a better term, I called chaplain, is a very worthy,
and somewhat ridiculous, personage, who will never
find out you laugh at him, if you don't laugh very loud
indeed.'
"' Dear papa! I am delighted with that part of his
character. But pray, is the house we are going to as
pleasantly situated as this?'
"'Not, perhaps, as much to your taste-there is no
lake under the windows, and you will be under the necessity of having all your music within doors.'
"This last coup de main ended the keen encounter of
our wits; for you may believe, Miatilda, it quelled all my
courage to reply.
"Yet my spirits, as perhaps will appear too manifest
from this dialogue, have risen insensibly, and, as it were,
in spite of myself. Brown alive, and free, and in England! Embarrassment and anxiety I can and must
endure. We leave this in two days for our new residence. I shall not fail to let you know what I think of