He 'll chust make his men pe strap on an old plaid,
and he 'll pe kive a chump, and away they wass, horse and man, one
peast, aal two of tem poth together."
Thus chatting they went to the stable, and from the stable to the
house, where they met no one, and went straight up to Malcolm's
room--the old man making as little of the long ascent as Malcolm
himself.
CHAPTER LXVI: THE CRY FROM THE CHAMBER
Brooding, if a man of his temperament may ever be said to brood,
over the sad history of his young wife and the prospects of his
daughter, the marquis rode over fields and through gates--he never
had been one to jump a fence in cold blood--till the darkness
began to fall; and the bearings of his perplexed position came
plainly before him.
First of all, Malcolm acknowledged, and the date of his mother's death
known, what would Florimel be in the eyes of the world? Supposing
the world deceived by the statement that his mother died when he
was born, where yet was the future he had marked out for her? He
had no money to leave her, and she must be helplessly dependent on
her brother.
Malcolm, on the other hand, might make a good match, or, with the
advantages he could secure him, in the army, still better in the
navy, well enough push his way in the world.
Miss Horn could produce no testimony; and Mrs Catanach had asserted
him the son of Mrs Stewart. He had seen enough, however, to make
him dread certain possible results if Malcolm were acknowledged
as the laird of Kirkbyres.
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