Page 445 - for-the-term-of-his-natural-life

CHAPTER XVII. CAPTAIN

AND MRS. FRERE.

ylvia had become the wife of Maurice Frere. The wed-
Sding created excitement in the convict settlement, for
Maurice Frere, though oppressed by the secret shame at
open matrimony which affects men of his character, could
not in decency—seeing how ‘good a thing for him’ was this
wealthy alliance—demand unceremonious nuptials. So, af-
ter the fashion of the town—there being no ‘continent’ or
‘Scotland’ adjacent as a hiding place for bridal blushes—the
alliance was entered into with due pomp of ball and supper;
bride and bridegroom departing through the golden after-
noon to the nearest of Major Vickers’s stations. Thence it
had been arranged they should return after a fortnight, and
take ship for Sydney.
Major Vickers, affectionate though he was to the man
whom he believed to be the saviour of his child, had no
notion of allowing him to live on Sylvia’s fortune. He had
settled his daughter’s portion—ten thousand pounds—
upon herself and children, and had informed Frere that he
expected him to live upon an income of his own earning.
After many consultations between the pair, it had been ar-
ranged that a civil appointment in Sydney would best suit
the bridegroom, who was to sell out of the service. This no-

For the Term of His Natural Life