“It is vain to contend with the inclinations,” returned the proprietor of the manor, sighing in a manner that did no discredit to the sincerity of his remark.  “I could have been happy to have placed your niece in the situation that my respected mother filled with so much dignity and credit, but it is now too late——­”

“We don’t know that;—­we don’t know that;” interrupted the Alderman, who still clung to the hope of effecting the first great wish of his heart, with the pertinacity with which he would have clung to the terms of any other fortunate bargain.  “We should never despair, Mr. Van Staats, as long as the transaction is left open.”

“The manner in which Mademoiselle Barberie has expressed her preference, is so very decided, that I see no hope of completing the arrangement.”

“Mere coquetry, Sir, mere coquetry!  The girl has disappeared in order to enhance the value of her future submission.  One should never regard a treaty at an end, so long as reasonable hopes remain that it may be productive to the parties.”

“I fear, Sir, there is more of the coquette in this step of the young lady, than a gentleman can overlook,” returned the Patroon a little dryly, and with far more point than he was accustomed to use.  “If the commander of Her Majesty’s cruiser be not a happy man, he will not have occasion to reproach his mistress with disdain!”

“I am not certain, Mr. Van Staats, that in the actual situation of our stipulations, I ought to overlook an innuendo that seems to reflect on the discretion of my ward.  Captain Ludlow——­well, sirrah! what is the meaning of this impertinence?”

“He’m waiting to see Masser,” returned the gaping Erasmus, who stood with the door in his hand, admiring the secret intelligence of his master, who had so readily anticipated his errand.

“Who is waiting?—­What does the simpleton mean?”

“I mean ’a gentle’um Masser say.”

“The fortunate man is here to remind us of his success,” haughtily observed Van Staats of Kinderhook.  “There can be no necessity of my presence at an interview between Alderman Van Beverout and his nephew.”

The justly-mortified Patroon bowed ceremoniously to the equally disappointed burgher, and left the room the moment he had done speaking.  The negro took his retreat as a favorable symptom for one who was generally known to be his rival; and he hastened to inform the young captain, that the coast was clear.

The meeting, that instantly succeeded, was sufficiently constrained and awkward.  Alderman Van Beverout assumed a manner of offended authority and wounded affection; while the officer of the Queen wore an air of compelled submission to a duty that he found to be disagreeable.  The introduction of the discourse was consequently ceremonious, and punctiliously observant of courtesy.

“It has become my office,” continued Ludlow, after the preliminaries had been observed, to express the surprise I feel, that a vessel of the exceedingly equivocal appearance of the brigantine, that is anchored in the Cove, should be found in a situation to create unpleasant suspicions concerning the commercial propriety of a merchant so well known as Mr. Alderman Van Beverout.”