Ere this, the great greyhound Shiuloch (whose name means speed) had returned, drenched with water (showing that he had pursued the stag into some distant loch) and bloody with more than one wound inflicted by antlers. The sharp-set hunters had dined luxuriously, and cigars with brandy and soda had become the order of the night, when the Master said to his father, 'I think I have had enough of deer-stalking--three weeks nearly--and to-morrow I shall start for Dundargue.' 'I think you are wise to do so,' replied Lord Aberfeldie, with a pointed glance. 'Sorry to lose you, Graham,' said Holcroft, concealing under a bright smile his secret annoyance, envy, and alarm, of all which more anon. In this sudden resolution Allan Graham was influenced, perhaps, by some remarks of his father, the viscount, and pique at those of Hawke Holcroft, together with a natural longing to see his mother and sister, and a growing consciousness that he had been somewhat remiss and, to say the least of it, ungallant to his cousin. Thus, next day, he took his departure for Dundargue; but he could little foresee all the bitter complications that were to arise, and to culminate in the future, through his merely lingering to stalk deer in his father's forest. When he went off, none shook his hand more warmly than Hawke Holcroft, though the latter muttered under his breath, 'Fool that I was, not to make my innings before this fellow came; but if some people could be put out of the way, that others might take their place, how much pleasanter this world would be--to other people, at least.' Little did the family of Aberfeldie know that in Hawke Holcroft they had among them an unscrupulous adventurer and most dangerous guest! CHAPTER III. UNCLE RAYMOND'S WILL. 'Marriage, indeed!' exclaimed Olive Raymond, 'it will be time enough to speak of that when this "laggard in love," your brother, turns up here at Dundargue. Besides, all women don't marry, so why should I?' 'Most pretty ones do, and marry you must!' replied, with a merry little laugh, Eveline Graham, the sole daughter of the house of Aberfeldie, to her English cousin, as she usually called her. 'Such stuff all this is! Does not the author of "The Red Rag" say that "if there is a circumstance calculated to breed mutual detestation in the minds of two young people, it is the knowledge that their respective parents have destined them for each other!"' 'How readily you quote,' said Eveline. 'Because I have the subject at heart.' They were posed like a couple of Du Maurier's fashionable girls, and were leisurely sipping afternoon tea at a pretty Chippendale table from an exquisite Wedgwood service, and, for freedom to gossip, had dispensed with all attendance. Both the cousins were handsome girls, whose bearded, belted, and corsletted ancestors--portraits of whom hung on the walls, and who had often 'Carved at the meal with gloves of steel,'