Great Britain -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction; Short stories
“Believe me, my beloved, it is because I love you so much that I am
setting you free that you may not be put to shame because you have
married a Highland girl, who has nothing but two cows, and who does not
know the ways of cities, and who cannot speak in public places, and who
can do nothing except love.
“If it had been possible I would have been waiting for you at the Cairn
of Remembrance, and it is my eyes that ache to see you once more, but
then I would be weak and could not leave you, as is best for you.
“You will not be seeking after me, for I am going far away, and nobody
can tell you where, and this is also best for you and me. But I will
be hearing about you, and will be knowing all you do, and there will be
none so proud of you as your first love.
“And, Henry, if you meet a good woman and she loves you, then you must
not think that I will be angry when you marry her, for this would be
selfish and not right I am going away for your sake, and I will be
praying that the sun be ever shining on you and that you become a great
man in the land. One thing only I ask--that in those days you sometimes
give a thought to Glenalder and your faithful friend,
“Magdalen Macdonald.”
IV
“It was a first-rate match, and we were fairly beaten; it was their
forward turned the scale. I had two hacks from him myself”--the captain
of the Glasgow Football Club nursed the tender spots. “It's a mercy
to-morrow's Sunday and one can lie in bed.”
“Olive oil is not bad for rubbing. You deserve the rest, old man. It
was a stiff fight. By-the-way I saw Rutherford of St Bede's there. He
cheered like a good'un when you got that goal. He's the best parson
going in Glasgow.”
“Can't bear the tribe nor their ways, Charlie, they're such hypocrites,
always preaching against the world and that kind of thing and feathering
their own nests at every turn. Do you know I calculated that six of them
in Glasgow alone have netted a hundred and twenty thousand pounds by
successful marriages. That's what sickens a fellow at religion.”
“Well, you can't say that against Rutherford, Jack, for he's not
married, and works like a coal-heaver. He's the straightest man I've
come across either in the pulpit or out of it, besides being a ripping
preacher. Suppose you look me up to-morrow about six, and we'll hear
what he's got to say.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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