Chapter 18

"Sirs, take your places, and be vigilant."

Henry IV.

The succeeding day was one in which the weather had a fixed character. The
wind was east, and, though light, not fluctuating. The air had that thick
and hazy appearance, which properly belongs to the Autumn in this climate,
but which is sometimes seen at midsummer, when a dry wind blows from the
ocean. The roll of the surf, on the shore, was regular and monotonous, and
the currents of the air were so steady as to remove every apprehension of
a change. The moment to which the action of the tale is transferred, was
in the earlier hours of the afternoon.

At that time the Coquette lay again at her anchors, just within the
shelter of the cape. There were a few small sails to be seen passing up
the bay; but the scene, as was common at that distant day, presented
little of the activity of our own times, to the eye. The windows of the
Lust in Rust were again open, and the movement of the slaves, in and about
the villa, announced the presence of its master.

The Alderman was in truth, at the hour named, passing the little lawn in
front of la Cour des Fées, accompanied by Oloff Van Staats and the
commander of the cruiser. It was evident, by the frequent glances which
the latter threw in the direction of the pavilion, that he still thought
of her who was absent; while the faculties of the two others were either
in better subjection, or less stimulated by anxiety. One who understood
the character of the individual, and who was acquainted with the past,
might have suspected, by this indifference on the part of the Patroon,
placed as it was in such a singular contrast to a sort of mysterious
animation which enlivened a countenance whose ordinary expression was
placid content, that the young suitor thought less than formerly of the
assets of old Etienne, and more of the secret pleasure he found in the
singular incidents of which he had been a witness.

"Propriety and discretion!" observed the burgher, in reply to a remark of
one of the young men--"I say again, for the twentieth time, that we shall
have Alida Barbérie back among us, as handsome, as innocent, ay, and as
rich, as ever!--perhaps I should also say, as wilful. A baggage, to worry
her old uncle, and two honorable suitors, in so thoughtless a manner!
Circumstances, gentlemen," continued the wary merchant, who saw that the
value of the hand of which he had to dispose, was somewhat reduced in the
market, "have placed you on a footing, in my esteem. Should my niece,
after all, prefer Captain Ludlow for a partner in her worldly affairs, why
it should not weaken friendship between the son of old Stephanus Van
Staats and Myndert Van Beverout. Our