The sense of infinitude which comes to the soul
when it is in harmony with the peace of nature, arose and spread
itself abroad in Malcolm's being, and he felt with the Galilaeans
of old, when they forsook their nets and followed him who called
them, that catching fish was not the end of his being, although it
was the work his hands had found to do. The stillness was all the
sweeter for its contrast with the merriment he had left behind
him, and a single breath of wind, like the waft from a passing
wind, kissed his forehead tenderly, as if to seal the truth of his
meditations.
CHAPTER XXIX: FLORIMEL AND DUNCAN
In the course of a fortnight, Lord Meikleham and his aunt, the bold
faced countess, had gone, and the marquis, probably finding it a
little duller in consequence, began to pay visits in the neighbourhood.
Now and then he would be absent for a week or two--at Bog o'
Gight, or Huntly Lodge, or Frendraught, or Balvenie, and although
Lady Florimel had not much of his society, she missed him at meals,
and felt the place grown dreary from his being nowhere within its
bounds.
On his return from one of his longer absences, he began to talk to
her about a governess; but, though in a playful way, she rebelled
utterly at the first mention of such an incubus. She had plenty of
material for study, she said, in the library, and plenty of amusement
in wandering about with the sullen Demon, who was her constant
companion during his absences; and if he did force a governess upon
her, she would certainly murder the woman, if only for the sake of
bringing him into trouble.
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