'If we can call it so.' 'But then at Merlwood,' said she archly, 'Hester--dear Hester, would be an attraction, of course.' Roland actually coloured, and stooped to scrape a cigar light on his heel, and to change the subject said: 'I saw Jack Elliot of ours for a few minutes at his club in Edinburgh.' 'Dear Jack! and how is he looking?' 'Well and jolly as usual; unluckily his leave is shorter than mine, yet I hope to keep him here till the pheasants are ready.' 'Darling Roland--how good of you!' exclaimed his sister, kissing him again. 'You and he expect your little affair to come off when----' 'When the regiment returns home--I could not go out to Egypt, you know, Roland.' 'Worse than useless, when we may be moving towards the frontier again.' 'In her last letter to me Annot Drummond seemed full of Egypt, and Egypt only.' 'She has a lover out there, perhaps--or going,' said Roland, laughing. 'Not improbable. She is coming here; but, truth to tell, I do not like Annot Drummond much.' 'Why?' 'I cannot say.' 'Nay, Maude, that is unjust.' 'It is a case of Dr. Fell, I suppose.' 'Yet you have invited her for a month or two to Earlshaugh.' 'Yes.' 'Why, then?' 'As a return for her mother's kindness to me when in London--nothing more. There is no love lost between Annot and me.' Roland became silent, as his sister evidently spoke unwillingly; and to change the subject, he said: 'And the stepmother, Maude; how do you and she get on?' 'As my letters have told you--oh, I hate her, as much as it is in my nature to hate anyone. When she comes near me I feel like a cat with its fur rubbed the wrong way. Can you not pension her away from Earlshaugh?' 'Not if all I hear is true,' replied Roland, giving his dark moustache an angry twist. 'But who is this fellow Sharpe, who seems to be her factotum--and where did she pick him up?' 'He is her brother.' 'Her _brother_!' 'Yes--so you must be wary----' 'Till I see MacWadsett?' 'If that will make any difference, which I fear not,' replied Maude, lowering her voice, and actually glancing round with apprehension, while her blue eyes lighted with indignation; 'he lives here--perhaps she told you so?' 'No--lives here--here in Earlshaugh?' 'Yes; he has rooms set apart for him in the Beatoun wing.' 'By _her_ orders?' 'Yes. She has the whole estate, and you and me too, completely in her power. Papa, in his folly, left her, apparently, everything; but to come to us, I presume, in time; and now she is entirely influenced and guided by her brother. Literally, we seem to be at his mercy,' continued the girl, with a kind of a shudder, 'and you must play your cards well to prevent a catastrophe.' 'It is intolerable!' exclaimed Roland, in an accent of rage. 'It is beyond my comprehension.' 'I wish old MacWadsett were at home.' 'He will not be in town for some weeks yet.' Some bitter words escaped Roland, who added: