BY
JAMES GRANT
AUTHOR OF
"THE ROMANCE OF WAR," "THE CAMERONIANS,"
"THE SCOTTISH CAVALIER,"
ETC., ETC.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
LONDON:
HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS,
13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.
1885.
All rights reserved.
CONTENTS
I. Birkwoodbrae
II. Mary's Adventure
III. The Introduction
IV. Robert Wodrow
V. The Dunkeld Family
VI. The Visit
VII. Dreams and Doubts
VIII. A Truce
IX. Colville's Warning
X. A Garden-Party at Craigmhor
XI. In the Conservatory
XII. After Thoughts
XIII. The Last Appeal
XIV. Gretchen and Faust
XV. How Faust Succeeded
XVI. Evil Tidings
XVII. Mary's Preparations
XVIII. On the Brink
XIX. The Departure
XX. The Heir of Entail
COLVILLE OF THE GUARDS.
'You are a dear and good-hearted jewel,Mary!' said Ellinor. 'How you canconstantly face and soothe the sorrows andmiseries of all these poor people, I cannotconceive; I am not selfish, I hope, andyet the frequent task would he too muchfor me.'
'You are not without a tender heart,'replied Mary, as she set down her littlehand-basket, now empty. 'I have paidbut one visit to-day—a very sorrowfulone—and I am glad to be back again in ourown pretty home. When I saw old Elspatthe funeral was over, and dear Dr. Wodrowhad brought her back to the littlelonely cottage from which her husbandhad been borne away. It was so sad andstrange to see the empty bed, with a plateof salt upon the pillow, and the outlineof his coffin still on the coverlet, and thenow useless drugs and phials on a littletable, close by—sad reminiscences that onlyserved to torture poor Elspat, whose greyhead the minister patted kindly, whiletelling her, in the usual stereotyped way,that whom He loved He chastened—thatman is cut down like a reed—all flesh isgrass, and so forth. But old Elspat shallnot live alone now—she is to come here,and be a kind of factotum for us.'
'That is like your kind, considerateheart, Mary; always thinking of othersand never of yourself.'
'When I think of the brightness ofour own home, Ellinor—though death hastwice darkened it—and compare it withthat of old Elspat, my heart throbs withalternate gratitude and sorrow.'
'Poor Elspat Gordon.'
The speakers were sisters, two brightand handsome girls, one of whom had justreturned from an errand of charity andbenevolence, while t