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"THE FAIR HAVENS" 217
her, in the near autumn, in her island home, and
as we parted, in her own bright way she said : ' Re-
member you keep your tryst with me/ God had
ordained it otherwise. She was gone from her beloved
Iona and Tiree, but we will keep our ' tryst ' on the
further, safer shore."
On one of the Sundays of the spring-time there is
a new entry in church attendance : " Service in Pont
Street, with Baffy and Margaret Maclean " — this last
a native of Tiree, and the devoted nurse of the two
eldest Balfour children. She was soon to return to
her home, and be one of Lady Victoria's fellow-
workers.
From that time onwards there were to be no more
" wanderings " when Lady Victoria was in London.
St. Columba's (Church of Scotland) claimed and re-
ceived her full allegiance.
The old connection with Crown Court Church had
long ceased to exist. The ministry of Dr. Cumming
in its later periods had not satisfied the Duke, and
probably the distance from Argyll Lodge had helped
to sever the ties which bound him to the church.
The National Church, after the Disruption, had been
left with " the Kirk of the Crown," as its principal
representative, and its affairs were at a low ebb in the
years when Lady Victoria began her Church life.
She had not missed its presence, for the English
Presbyterian churches around her had contained all
she needed.
The Duke had never interested himself much in
Church organisation, and he had taken no part in

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