Fiction > Book editions > London, 1886 - Kidnapped

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CHAPTER   XXVIII.
I   GO   IN   QUEST   OF  MY   INHERITANCE.
I MADE what change I could in my appearance; and
blithe was I to look in the glass and find the beggar-
man a thing of the past, and David Balfour come to life
again. And yet I was ashamed of the change too, and
above all, of the borrowed clothes. When I had done,
Mr. Rankeillor caught me on the stair, made me his
compliments, and had me again into the cabinet.
"Sit ye down, Mr. David," said he, "and now that
you are looking a little more like yourself, let me see if
I can find you any news. You will be wondering, no
doubt, about your father and your uncle? To be sure it
is a singular tale; and the explanation is one that I
blush to have to offer you. For," says he, really with
embarrassment, " the matter hinges on a love affair."
"Truly," said I, "I cannot very well join that
notion with my uncle."
"But your uncle, Mr. David, was not always old,"
replied the lawyer, "and what may perhaps surprise you
more, not always ugly. He had a fine, gallant air;
people stood in their doors to look after him, as he went
by upon a mettle horse. I have seen it with these eyes,
and I ingenuously confess, not altogether without envy;