“What obligations do I owe to your whole family, my dear friend!” said the Marquis to Newton.

“I will not deny it, sir,” replied Newton; “but allow me to observe, that for the recovery of your daughter you are equally indebted to the generosity of your own relatives and your own feeling disposition.  Had not Monsieur and Madame de Fontanges protected and assisted me in my distress; had not you, instead of throwing me into prison, set me at liberty, you never would have known where your daughter was to be found.  Had not one of my uncles hastened to the relief of the vessel in distress, and the other protected your little girl after his death, she would not have been now in existence.  My gratitude for your kindness induced me to remain by your ship, and subsequently to rescue you from the pirate, or you would not have now been a prisoner in this country—­an evil which, under divine Providence, has been changed to a blessing, by restoring to you your daughter.  We have all, I trust, done our duty, and this happy issue is our full reward.”

“Humph!” observed the old lawyer.

Chapter LIII

  “Thus far our chronicle—­and now we pause,
    Though not for want of matter, but ’tis time.”

       BYRON.

Amber, or Julie de Fontanges, as we must now call her, quitted the abode of her kind protector in such distress, that it was evident she regretted the discovery which had been made.  She was too young to be aware of the advantages of high birth, and her removal was for some time a source of unfeigned regret.  It appeared to her that nothing could compensate for the separation from her supposed father, who doted on her, from Mrs Forster, who had watched over her, from Nicholas, who amused her, and from Newton, whom she loved as a brother.  But the idea of going to a foreign country, and never seeing them or William Aveleyn again, and, though last, not least, to find that she was not an Englishwoman, and in future must not rejoice at their victories over her own nation, occasioned many a burst of tears when left alone to her own meditations.  It was long before the devotion of her father, and the fascinating attentions of M. and Madame de Fontanges, could induce her to be resigned to her new condition.  Mr John Forster felt his bereavement more deeply than could have been supposed.  For many days after the departure of Julie, he seldom spoke, never made his appearance, except at dinner-time, and as soon as the meal was finished, hastened to his chambers, where he remained very late.  Intense application was the remedy which he had selected to dispel his care, and fill up the vacuum created by the absence of his darling child.

“Newton,” said he, one evening, as they discussed a bottle of port, “have you considered what I proposed?  I confess to you that I am more than ever anxious for the match; I cannot part with that dear child, and you can bring her back to me.”