The Captain, however, had not been slow to discover the real state of
affairs, and the discovery had given him unqualified satisfaction. For a
long time his quiet contentment in this pleasant, simple, easy-going life
had been clouded by anxious thoughts about Marian's future. His
death--should that event happen before she married--must needs leave her
utterly destitute. The little property from which his income was derived
was not within his power to bequeath. It would pass, upon his death, to
one of his nephews. The furniture of the cottage might realize a few
hundreds, which would most likely be, for the greater part, absorbed by
the debts of the year and the expenses of his funeral. Altogether, the
outlook was a dreary one, and the Captain had suffered many a sharp pang
in brooding over it. Lovely and attractive as Marian was, the chances of
an advantageous marriage were not many for her in such a place as
Lidford. It was natural, therefore, that Captain Sedgewick should welcome
the advent of such a man as Gilbert Fenton--a man of good position and
ample means; a thoroughly unaffected and agreeable fellow into the
bargain, and quite handsome enough to win any woman's heart, the Captain
thought. He watched the two young people together, after the notion of
this thing came into his mind, and about the sentiments of one of them he
felt no shadow of doubt.
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