Blair Collection > Celtic monthly > Volume 2, 1894

22
THE CELTIC MONTHLY
termination of his public sei-vice Mr. Cameron
hopes to spend the remainder of his days
amongst the hills of Lochaber — the cradle of
liis race— and those lone glens where oft iu the
bygone days so
" Willi and high the Camerons' gathering rose."
Ei>n'OR.
GLENORCHY'S WIDOW:
A Legend of Lochawe.
By TllK l">I)lTOR.
NE day tliis aged couiforter called
^■fiv)) ^P"'^ '"*•'' ^'"' found that she had lioen
J'>sK> sighing more than usual. He condoled
with her, and then said he was the unwilling
bearer of sad news. Putting his handkercliief
to his eyes in ijuite an afft^cting way, he ex-
claimed :
" My dear lady, word has just been received
that your brave husband, Sir Colin, is dead. He
was killed in battle with the Moors."
Tlie fair widow gave way to a flood of tears,
and showed .symptoms of fainting.
" What shall 1 do," she raurnmred. " Alas !
now that the hope that he lives no longer sustains
me, what is there to live for? What can I do
alone 1"
" My sweet lady, do not give way to such
weakness. There is still much that you can live
for. There is — hem ! — there is always the pros-
pect of taking another liusband to beomoe the
the sharer of your sorrows and joys. There are,
I make no doubt, many wlio would be greatly
honoured in gaining your alVections, and — hem !
— if I might presume so far, if, in fact — hem ! —
I sliould be willing myself, very willing, my
dear lady, to make you Mrs. MacCorquodale —
if you would e.vcuse my saying so."
The old gentleman was now deeply aliected,
and used his liandkercliief frequently. As
the lady paid no attention to his proposal, he
repeated :
'•■ Your husband did not know how to appre-
ciate a loving wife. 1 have learnt to love you
with all my heart, and I should, as I already
mentioned, feel very proud to occupy in your
aflfections that place which you so long reserved
for one who was cruel enough not to value it as
he. should. I shall value it at its proper worth,
my dear Lady Glenon-iiy !"
Such an example of disinterested kindness
could not fail to toucli the heart of such a sus-
ceptible woman ; but, although lier first impulse
was to close with thi' oH'cr, the n.tural coyness
of the sex asserted itself, and she remarked with
a faint smile beaming through lier tears, that
she was not prepared at the moment to listen to
such a proposal, but that she fully appeciated
tlie kindly feeling which pi'ompted it.
Mr. MacCorquodale thought this was pretty
good as a beginning, and again assuring her
that his only desii-e was to serve her, to contri-
bute, if possible, to her happiness, and to relieve
her of the cares of managing such a large estate,
which he felt confident he could do much belter
than she could, he wiped his eyes and took liis
departure. The suggestive smile that crept over
his face, when he got outside of the castle, might
liave led people who did not know his kindly
and disinterested ways to believe that he had
played a part in an amusing comedy, and felt
sure that he had acted well.
MacCorquodale was now assidious in his at-
tentions to the lonely widow, and so successfully
did he conduct the matrimonial campaign that
the lady consented to bestow upon him her heart
and hand — not to mention the other sub.stantial
considerations which were to accompany them.
The news soon spread throughout the country,
and although the members of the clan did not
manifest any degree of enthusiasm over the
matter the happy day was fixed, and great pre-
parations were made to celebrate the event with
pomp and circumstance worthy of the occasion.
In making the arrangements, MacCorquodale
manifested his generosity to a remarkable decree
— all the expense being defrayed from the lady's
purse. This was only another instance of liis
unselfishness. Some narrow-minded people would
have paid these accounts themselves, but not so
this gentleman, who would not have deprived
the fair lady the pleasure of paying these items
of expense for anything.
CHAPTER II.
It is usual, in the orthodox three-volume
novel, to end the first book with a thrilling
description of the heroine being carried down
a wild mountain torrent to certain death ;
or perhaps the villain stands over her with an
uplifted dagger, wliich he is about to plunge into
her breast, while, with calm fortitude, she braves
him to do his worst. In the next volume, the
hero appears on the scene, and we breathe more
freely when the gallant youth rescues the fair
maiden. This is not an orthodo.x novel, but it
is just possible that my readers may consider
that the time has now arrived when I should
exj)lain what Sir Colin had lieen doing all these
years. Unless he can satisfactorily account for
his conduct, we might judge him harshly.
I already mentioned that the Knight of Glen-
orchy had, with other mend)ers of the order,
crossed over to Spain, where he had achieved
great renown in the wars against the Moors.
Each year he had sent a trusty page with letters