The Master of Aberfeldie, Volume 1 (of 3)Grant, James
General
The Master of Aberfeldie, Volume 1 (of 3)
Grant, James
Fiction
He and his sister were, of course, familiar since childhood with the
ruins of Dunsinane and all their surroundings; but to two or three of
the party, as they turned to depart, and saw the vast ramparts
reddened by the setting sun, there came to memory the scene they had
so often witnessed on the stage--Malcolm's army with the boughs of
Birnam in their helmets, the 'alarms and excursions,' the fierce and
protracted melo-dramatic combat, the downfall of Macbeth beneath the
sword of Macduff, and the cries of 'Hail, King of Scotland--King of
Scotland, hail!'
CHAPTER X.
THE GOLDEN BANGLE.
A writer says 'there is the beauty of youth, and surely there is the
beauty of love, too,' and the latter certainly shone in the soft eyes
of Eveline Graham as she caracoled her horse in the homeward ride by
the side of young Cameron, and her eyes, which were ever the mystery
of that face, had now their sweetest smiles for him. She saw how his
face was lighted up, and was aware how his voice softened when he
addressed her as it softened to no other woman; and yet, withal,
though no word of love had passed between these two, right well did
they know the secret of each other's hearts; but poverty fettered his
tongue, and her parents' ambition and known wishes nearly repressed
all hope in the heart of Eveline.
With all her regard for her father she had a fear of him, and still
more so of her mother. All their prejudices were in favour of
wealth; but Evan Cameron appeared to her altogether so dear and
irresistible that she, poor girl, could not imagine anyone being
proof against him, and with this conviction, and the knowledge that
Allan loved him, she permitted herself occasionally to live in a kind
of fool's paradise, wherein Sir Paget Puddicombe had no part.
When her mother was not present, she played to Evan Cameron, and sang
his favourite songs; she showed him her drawings for hints and
suggestions, discussed her favourite books, and let him hang over her
chair; and at such times, though nothing of love was said, there was
a subtle tenderness in Cameron's eye and voice that made her
impulsive heart quicken, as no man's eye or voice had ever done
before, and young though she was, Eveline had heard more than one
declaration of love.
And now for a time he had the joy of having her all to himself, as
they contrived to distance the rest of their party.
But what availed it? Evan knew that, if once he passed beyond what
appeared to be the merest friendship, his visit to Dundargue might
come to a speedy end, and its hospitality could never be extended to
him again.
To Evan, Eveline Graham proved, if we may say so, a kind of
revelation after the rough life he had led of late years in
India--something from another world, as it were--and thus much of
adoration mingled with his love for her. If dying could have served
Eveline, there and then would Evan Cameron have died for her!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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