She heard hurried and passionate words poured into her ear; she felt the firm, warm clasp of Sir Redmond's hands on hers as he begged permission to clasp the necklet round her slender throat, while yieldingly she turned towards him, and deftly--he was not unused to episodes such as this--as he touched her soft, white skin, he clasped it on, his eyes glowing with fire and animation as he bent over her sweet little face. The latter was pale rather than flushed, and her mobile lips were quivering as he pressed his to them, pursuing his advantage with all the courage, skill, and tact his past rascally experience had given him; while the force of his sudden love, if it scared, also delighted Ellinor, though the upbraiding and set visage of Robert Wodrow seemed to rise between them. 'One day I shall see the family diamonds of the house of Sleath sparkling on your brow and bosom, love,' said he, kissing her eyes, as gravely as if the said house of Sleath had come in with the European rabble of the Conqueror. 'And you promise to be mine, Ellinor?' he added, pressing her close to him. 'Yes,' she replied, in a scarcely audible whisper. 'There are some men who can love several women in succession--or imagine they do so. I am not one of these, believe me, darling! I have never--could never have done that. You, Ellinor, are the first love of my heart--my first and only one!' How he talked, this man who knew well what passion was, but never loved, and the girl was too truthful generally herself to doubt; so her heart throbbed as his honeyed words fell on her willing ear. 'And so, love, we shall soon be made one now,' he whispered, with another caress. After a time she said, timidly and blushingly, 'You will tell--you will talk with Dr. Wodrow about all this, Redmond?' 'How delicious to hear my name on your lips! But--Dr. Wodrow--why--is he a relation?' 'Why then--what then?' 'He is a kind of guardian; papa, on his deathbed, bequeathed Mary and me to his care.' 'Consult him--impossible!' said Sir Redmond, whose face darkened. 'Why should we condescend to consult that old pump with the Sabbath-day face, when our own hearts agree? Besides, if my uncle, from whom I have great expectations, knew that I had married a Scotch girl--he has such curious prejudices----' 'Your uncle?' queried Ellinor, timidly. 'I have, unfortunately, an old and strangely-tempered relation in that degree. He is dying under an incurable disease, and probably cannot live out this winter--certainly not next spring. I am the heir to all his estates, and it is his fancy that I should marry into a family of title--' 'Otherwise?' 'I shall lose every shilling--every one!' 'Poor man! If the end is so near, surely we can wait, Redmond--nay, of course, we must wait,' she added, coyly and fondly.