The gentlemen laughed. The house of Falconer, like the house of Seton in old days, was of prompt ire, and its sole daughter did it no discredit. "This is great impertinence," exclaimed Marjory; "pass immediately, or--" she gave an emphatic flourish of her whip. A louder laugh than before bade her defiance; in another moment an unhesitating cut of the ready whip made the younger of the two spring aside. Alice flew past, and Marjory lingered for an instant to sweep a few short, sharp lashes over the amazed Fitzherbert, whose strange grimace of rage sent his young comrade into a fit of laughter, and earned for Marjory a full forgiveness of his own individual stroke. "There!" cried Marjory Falconer, as she closed the gate behind her, her face shining with mingled mirth and anger. "You can boast that you have had the honor of being horse-whipped by a lady." Little Alice was running on, in a great tremor, to the Tower.--"What is the matter?" said her deliverer, laughing, as she overtook her. "What a trembling, frightened bird you are, little Alice Aytoun. Why, we have had an adventure: only, to be correct, it should have been Lewis Ross who delivered you, and not I: is it so? Ah, I am afraid he has been doing damage here, this same Lewis Ross. It is a great shame--these men monopolize everything; one cannot even get a nice little girl kept to oneself." Alice drew herself up. It was not quite proper that she, the head elect of an important house like Merkland, with a shadow of matronly dignity upon her fair brow already, should be spoken of as a little girl. "I was so glad you came, Miss Falconer. It was very foolish, perhaps; but they frightened me." "And you had no whip, even if you had been bold enough to use it," said Miss Falconer, laughing, as she gathered up the train of her riding-habit, which had escaped from her hand, and bore sundry marks (no uncommon thing, however) of its contact with the damp path. "You may be thankful it was my indecorous, unfeminine self, and not any of the proprieties. Suppose it had been Jeannie Coulter--why, they would have caught you both." "But Miss Coulter is a very nice girl; is she not?" said Alice. "Oh! exceedingly--as nice a girl as could be; and will be as good-looking, and proper, and sensible a Mrs. Walter Foreman as it will be possible to find in the country; as proper, and not quite so good-looking, and more sensible, than you will be, when you are Mrs. Lewis Ross; for she has come to years of discretion, you know, and you are only a little girl." Alice did not like all this. "I wonder at you, Miss Falconer! I am sure it is far better to be what you call proper than--" Alice hesitated; "I mean, no one thinks Mrs. Catherine, and Mrs. Coulter, and Miss Ross weak, because they are always like what ladies should be."