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 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 ^ iSobel 
 
 BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR OF " OLIVE" AND " THE OGILVIES.' 
 
 'non ti lagkae, ma soffri, etaciL" 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. L 
 
 LONDON: 
 (3HAPMAN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY. 
 
 MDCCCLII.
 
 
 I 
 
 II 
 
 m 
 
 I DEDICATE THIS BOOK 
 
 RSONAL FRIEND, BUT TO ONE WHO HAS 
 BEEN THE GOOD INFLUENCE OF MY LIFE. 
 IE KNOWS, OR EVER IVLAY KNOW OF ME : 
 ;ASES me TO OFFER THIS — PROBABLY THE 
 : I SHALL WRITE FOR SOME TIME — TO A 
 3 MERE NAMING OF WHOM INCLUDES AND 
 > ALL PRAISE, — 
 
 % 
 
 I 
 
 ^BETH BARRETT BROWNING.
 
 lEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 IffP 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Gr^me stood at his own door, 
 r it to be opened unto him; — the 
 e better, any one would have 
 ^ho noted the miserable weather 
 
 The little square — it was one 
 lull ones in the New Town of 
 1, where grass grows among the 
 stones, and the very sparrows 
 
 asleep — was filled with a dense 
 st, rare indeed to the clear at- 
 of the hill-city, but when it does
 
 2 THE HEAD OF THE FMIILY. 
 
 come, frauglit with intense cold that pierces 
 to one's very souL Yet Ninian did not 
 seem to feel it. He stood, looking down the 
 blank street of which his own abode made 
 the corner-house. But he evidently saw no- 
 thing — at least with his outward eyes. 
 
 At length, turning round, his attention 
 was caught by the bright brass door-plate 
 — on which was inscribed, " Professor 
 Gra3me." He gave a momentary start, and 
 his close-set lips quivered once or twice ; but 
 soon he resumed the quiet manly bearing 
 which seemed habitual to him. 
 
 The maid opened the door. " Are they 
 come ?" was Ninian 's hasty question. 
 
 " Eh, sir ? Na, na, it's no the time. 
 
 At sax o'clock, Miss Grasme said " 
 
 " Yes — you're right, Katie," answered the 
 young man, as he unrolled himself from his 
 damp plaid and hung it to dry. In so 
 doing, he knocked down a heavy oaken 
 stick, which he took up, touching it tenderly, 
 while the same passing pang troubled Iiis 
 countenance
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 6 
 
 — put this by somewhere — in my 
 ! said, in a whisper. "And, Katie" 
 -opened the front door and pointed 
 irass plate, then added with an 
 
 though mute actions came easier 
 lan words, " see that this is taken 
 ^, mind ! before my sisters can see 
 'ow morning." 
 
 11 do that, Mr. Ninian — or Mr. 
 as ye are noo," answered Katie, 
 lued tone, as she disappeared with 
 1 to her eyes. 
 
 went up-stairs to his sister. She 
 lie lire sewing a dress of some 
 I material commoner than the one 
 I. That, together with a certain 
 d gravity in her look, and an in- 
 Je yet unmistakeable shadow over 
 3 house, indicated that this was a 
 ich had been lately visited by the 
 lest who must come at times to all. 
 . Gramme entered, the sister looked 
 niled; — no, not exactly smiled, but 
 itness came over her features. It 
 
 I 
 
 ^ o
 
 4 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 was evident that Ninian was one of those 
 whose presence brings Hght at all times and 
 under all circumstances. She put down her 
 work and came to him. 
 
 " You are not wet, are you ? It is a 
 dreary day." 
 
 " Indeed, I wish the children had had a 
 better one for their journey, or that I could 
 have fetched them myself Are all things 
 ready for them at home, Lindsay ? " 
 
 " Quite ready." 
 
 " I need scarcely have asked that ques- 
 tion of Our Sister," said Ninian; and his 
 manner expressed affection, quiet, indeed, 
 but perfectly at rest and sure — so sure, that 
 no outward show was asked or needed. 
 
 " Will you dine now ? or have dinner 
 and tea together when the children arrive ? 
 I thought you would like that best, bro- 
 ther?" 
 
 " Certainly !" 
 
 The colloquy ceased. Brief and subdued 
 it was, as if they tried to speak on ordinary 
 topics, and just as usual — both feeling over
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 e shadow of some heavy thought, 
 ach, for the other's sake, tried to 
 nd could not. 
 
 5 nearly dark, Lindsay. Had you 
 jr put your work away?" 
 id so — mechanically it seemed — as 
 r because Ninian desired her. She 
 .ently accustomed to do as he said 
 thing. Then the brother and sister 
 k into silence, sitting on either side 
 Grey shadows crept over the 
 L the dark corners, and about the 
 hairs ; but still at the hearth where 
 ) sat it was warm and bright, 
 were very like one another, though 
 Grseme was apparently some years 
 '. Neither were handsome — in fact, 
 1 might reasonably be applied that 
 ! which Southrons often give to 
 ghly Scottish face — hard-featured, 
 ines were bold, clear, and somewhat 
 though he was still a young man„ 
 lad that which to his sex is worth 
 s more than beauty of feature — a 
 
 I 
 
 t;'
 
 b THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 stature combining height, strength, dignity, 
 and grace. Yet his was not an ugly physiog- 
 nomy either. It was the sort of face that you 
 would instinctively trust. Looking at it, you 
 could put your whole worldly estate, your cha- 
 racter, your life itself, into his hands, and feel 
 that all were in safe keeping. In fact, a run- 
 away bankrupt, his debtor too, once did so. 
 And Ninian was faithful to the trust, even 
 though it entailed upon him perpetual trou- 
 ble in settling the affairs of the absent de- 
 faulter, and in exercising some show of au- 
 thority over two most refractory boys and 
 one girl, who from their London boarding- 
 schools kept up a perpetual warfare with 
 their unseen Scottish guardian. 
 
 Lindsay — her likeness shall follow after 
 her brother's, as, despite her seniority, she 
 ever followed, in sweet humility — Lindsay 
 Graeme was — ^just a woman, nothing less, and 
 nothino; more! She never was and never 
 had been thought clever or beautiful, and 
 now she had passed the age when she cared 
 to be thought either. Also, there was at
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAJIILY. 7 
 
 times a look in her face, wliicli seemed as if 
 not age alone had produced the softened 
 calm it wore — this sealing up of all youth's 
 restless emotions into one serene repose. 
 Whatever shadow had swept over her, it 
 had left no bitterness, no heartlessness, 
 scarcely even grief. It was probably that 
 one — the most sanctifying woe of all — when 
 the angel of death, reascending, opens heaven, 
 and suffers a portion of heaven's light to fall 
 on those looking sorrowfully upwards, whose 
 faces, like that of Moses, bear some trace of 
 this brightness evermore. 
 
 For her outward appearance, it was just 
 ordinary enough ; you would not notice her, 
 except, perhaps, for -the grave neatness of her 
 black dress — she always wore black ; or for 
 a certain sweetness in her voice, which ever 
 pierced through the Babel of all other voices 
 in the room, like a drop of clear water fall- 
 ing on a crystal floor. For the rest of her 
 looks, she had a fair skin, flaxen hair, that 
 woidd always be flaxen — never grey. She 
 generally wore a sort of half-cap of black
 
 8 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 lace, which, though she probably did not 
 know it, was the most becoming head-tire a 
 lady of her age and complexion could have 
 chosen. 
 
 Nothing broke the silence, except the 
 occasional falling of a coal from the fire, or 
 the cat jumping from her doze on the hearth 
 up to Ninian's knee, whence she was not dis- 
 placed. It argues well for a young man's 
 disposition when he is amicably disposed 
 towards cats — and babies. 
 
 " Half an hour yet !" said Ninian, looking 
 at his watch. " I can walk to the coach- 
 office in ten minutes ; but it is better to be 
 before than after the time. Let us have tea 
 quite ready, and the fire bright. I want the 
 children to feel that they have come home 
 — to a cheerful home." 
 
 " You are right, brother, quite right. He 
 would have said so." 
 
 " I think he would. And since they are 
 younger than we, and have been away 
 during all the trouble which we two have 
 shared together, we cannot expect them to
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 9 
 
 feel exactly as we do. And now they are 
 coming home, we must try to make it a 
 happy home to them, as it was in our 
 father's lifetime." 
 
 " Yes, Ninian, we will. And we must 
 never let them feel that there is not the full 
 tie of blood between us and them, remember- 
 ing that our father was their father, and that 
 their mother is dead as well as our ours." 
 
 So spoke Lindsay, in a low voice, as she 
 stood leaning by the hearth ; the light 
 shining on her hands, that hung down loosely 
 linked together, but her face hid in shadow, 
 as it always seemed to be when she betrayed 
 more emotion than her ordinary life ex- 
 pressed. 
 
 There was no more said between the 
 brother and sister, and Ninian soon rose 
 and went down stairs. But ere leaving the 
 house he came up once more. Lindsay was 
 still standing by the fire, her hands folded — 
 that quiet passive attitude into which they 
 seemed naturally to fall. It was her habit;
 
 10 THE HEAD OF THE EAMILY. 
 
 one of those outward tokens of inward things 
 which may so often be noticed. 
 
 Ninian went up to his sister and kissed 
 lier — but gravely, as if it were a rare thing 
 between them. She leant her head on his 
 shoulder for a minute^ said "Thank you, 
 Ninian," and then followed him to the hall- 
 door. From thence she went down to the 
 kitchen and up to the drawing-room, busy- 
 ing herself in all housewifely preparations 
 until that most nondescript, abundant, and 
 agreeable meal — a Scotch tea-dinner — was 
 smiling on the board. This done, she 
 went and stood by the fire in her old atti- 
 tude, from the which she never moved until 
 the loud ring at the door-bell announced 
 that " the children" were come. 
 
 It was a decided misnomer to call them 
 children. The two eldest — I speak ad- 
 visedly, for one glance proclaimed them 
 twins — were "sonsie lassies" (no other term 
 will suit them so well), apparently about 
 twenty. There was anotlier girl, who was
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 11 
 
 evidently that fortunate, fairy- gifted one, 
 tlie "youngest princess" of tlie family; and 
 there were two or three boys, scattered in 
 and about the line of ^irls for which the 
 Grreme family had once been renowned, 
 until in the late Professor's household the 
 numbers of each sex became nearly equal. 
 Altogether, there were six to be counted. 
 Ninian stood at the door and let them pass 
 him by, one by one, to receive the greeting 
 of " Our Sister," as Lindsay was called par 
 excellence. It seemed to be a tacit agree- 
 ment, that while the others had their va- 
 rious Christian names, Kuth and Esther, Ed- 
 mund, Christina, Reuben, Charles, bandied 
 about under all sorts of odd nicknames and 
 diminutives, Ninian and Lindsay were em- 
 phatically called "Brother" and " Sister." 
 • The whole tribe had rushed in from their 
 journey with a tired forgetfulness of every- 
 thing but the relief of coming home; and 
 for some minutes the house was alive with 
 voices ; Katie, poor old soul ! being sum- 
 moned hither and thither till it almost drove
 
 12 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 her crazy. But when, one after the other, 
 the young travellers assembled to tea in the 
 old familiar room — where everything looked 
 the same, save for the one missing presence 
 that would be seen no more — then a great 
 quietness came over all. The twins crept 
 nearer to each other, and Christina, ever 
 the readiest either to laugh or weep, hid 
 her face on Lindsay's shoulder. But no one 
 spoke a word. 
 
 They gathered round the table — Lindsay 
 sitting where she had presided for some 
 years as mistress of her father's household. 
 Opposite to her was that father's empty 
 chair. Each glanced that way, and then all 
 eyes were lowered. None looked up, and 
 all kept silence as Ninian came in and took 
 the vacant place. There was a pause — as if 
 each waited for the voice that never would 
 be heard more; and then Ninian, in his low 
 quiet voice, said the grace: 
 
 " Lord^ we thank Thee for these and all 
 Thy mercies; and forgive us our sins, for 
 Chi'isfs sake. Amen.^^
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILT. 13 
 
 And all felt this to be the token whereby 
 their brother took upon himself the duties, 
 responsibilities, and rights of eldership, and 
 became henceforth the Head of the Family. 
 
 It was a goodly sight — as indeed it always 
 is — to see what may truly be termed a 
 Family! Israel's king surely knew it, when 
 he likened it to a table set round about with 
 olive-branches — always a fairer table than 
 one without. Perhaps Ninian, too, thought 
 thus ; and after the first sorrowful cloud had 
 passed away from the circle, it was with a 
 sense not only of duty but of pleasure that 
 he looked round on his young brothers and 
 sisters, having a kindly and a cheerful word 
 for each. 
 
 " Well, and what sort of' a journey was 
 it ? You must have nearly filled the coach 
 yourselves." 
 
 " We wanted all to come outside," said 
 Ruth, the one of the twins who generally 
 took the lead, in virtue of a more serious 
 demeanour, and fifteen minutes more expe- 
 rience of life than her sister Esther. " We
 
 14 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 thought," she added, looking down, "that 
 now we ought to be more careful of expense. 
 But our friends at Lanark overruled all, and 
 took places for us girls inside." 
 
 " And much good their kindness was to 
 Tinie, at least," said Eeuben, an old-fashioned- 
 looking, mathematical-headed little fellow, 
 whose face might indicate any age from 
 thirteen to thirty. " Tinie actually insisted 
 on coming outside before we had travelled 
 half-way, though we were driving through a 
 mist that I could almost have cut with a 
 knife." 
 
 " Tinie'! Tinie !" said Ninian, with a re- 
 proachful shake of the head to the lassie 
 who sat next to him, the " youngest princess" 
 — and a creature beautiful and blithe as 
 youngest princesses always happen to be; 
 in fact, the flower of the family, so far as 
 looks went, and as such evidently worn by 
 " Our Brother" in his heart of hearts. 
 
 " I couldn't help it," pouted Tinie's pretty 
 lips. " It was so dull inside, and Ruth and 
 Esther did nothing but talk to one another,
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 15 
 
 whicli tliey always do, telling me to ^ go out 
 of the way, as I'm only a child.' A child, 
 indeed !" 
 
 " You ought not to behave like a child, 
 then," answered the grave Keuben, "and 
 especially before a minister. Mr. Forsyth 
 travelled with us, brother ; and I'm sure he 
 must have been shocked at the w^y she 
 went on, chattering like a magpie." 
 
 " I always do so on principle to douce, 
 quiet, saint-like young men of his description. 
 It rouses them, and brings them down to the 
 level of this world. For the same reason I 
 shall keep on pulhng Edmund's hair occa- 
 sionally" — and she suited the action to the 
 ■VjTord — "or else, as now, he'll be floating 
 off into the clouds, and we shall hear no 
 more of him." 
 
 Edmund, poor victim, turned round with 
 a patient air and a " What did you want, 
 Christina?" He had a more thoughtful look 
 than any of them, and in his face was the 
 dehcate beauty of boyhood. The features 
 were good — the mouth especially; but its
 
 16 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 form, while indicating great sensitiveness and 
 susceptibility, had a want of firmness in the 
 lines, from which a physiognomist would 
 augur ill. In short, no one could much ob- 
 serve Edmund Grseme without a feeling of 
 interest and affection (for his sweet nature 
 was evident in his whole mien), nor yet with- 
 out a certain anxious looking forward to the 
 problem of life which the boy had yet to 
 solve — the great battle of life which he had 
 yet to fight. 
 
 No embryo genius was ever a prophet in 
 his own country. As Edmund Avoke up 
 from his reverie, a smile went round the 
 circle ; and when, with varying colour and 
 knitted brows, he began desperately wield- 
 ing his knife and fork, the smile grew into 
 a titter. Especially as Charlie, the wag 
 and scapegrace of the family — in every 
 family there is always one — took advan- 
 taG;e of the conclusion of the meal to mount 
 guard behind " Ned*s " chair, and there 
 perform a succession of heroic and senti- 
 mental attitudes for the especial amusement
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 17 
 
 of every one but the unconscious youth 
 himself. 
 
 — Of every one, save Ninian, who had 
 been called away, and Lindsay, who sat by 
 the fireside in her usual place. A momentary 
 shade troubled her countenance as she re- 
 garded the young group, saying to herself, 
 " Two months — and forgotten already." 
 But she knew that youth is youth — tran- 
 sient even in its deepest emotions; and that 
 God meant it should be so. Otherwise, 
 which of us could ever bear life's burden 
 into middle asfe? 
 
 o 
 
 Ninian soon re-entered the room. They 
 were all collected round the fire, some sit- 
 ting, some standing. One onl)r^ place was 
 left vacant — the great leather arm-chair, 
 which the father had used to fill. Charlie, 
 with his customary thoughtlessness, was 
 about to take possession of it, by jumping 
 in all-fours; but Keuben had held him back, 
 whispering something which made them all 
 grow silent and grave. 
 
 " Any room for me, children ?" asked 
 
 VOL. I. C
 
 18 THE HEAD OF THE EAJIILT. 
 
 Ninian, as he stood on the outside of the 
 circle round the fire. The younger boys 
 answered by moving the arm-chair to its 
 olden spot, while Edmund took his brother 
 by the hand and placed him in it. It was 
 a mute acknowledgment from them all of the 
 double relation which he was in future to 
 hold — elder brother and father. 
 
 Ninian evidently felt it. He sat down ; 
 held his hand over his eyes for a few mo- 
 ments ; then his grave, quiet, affectionate 
 smile lightened around on them all, and each 
 knew without more words that the family 
 bond was sealed. 
 
 They soon seated themselves round the 
 fire 5 Lindsay at her work, the twins lounging 
 together on the sofa, and Tinie crouched on 
 the hearth-rug, her two little hands folded 
 over Ninian's knee. Edmund sat opposite, 
 leaning on his elbows, and looking dreamily 
 into the fire. Which said fire Reuben also 
 contemplated with equal intentness, though 
 with different motives, being evidently bent 
 on making discoveries in gas j for whenever
 
 THE HEAD OF THE EAMILY. 19 
 
 a small jet of flame appeared, he poked at it 
 with such determined energy, that the peace 
 of the rest of the company was considerably 
 disturbed. Charlie also contributed a few of 
 those trifling annoyances which seem neces- 
 sary clouds to diversify the beauty of the 
 family atmosphere ; amusing himself at in- 
 tervals by awakening the cat, and hunting 
 her from corner to corner with a vivacity of 
 delight, which proved the truth of the cele- 
 brated remark, " that man's natural propen- 
 sity was to hunt something^ 
 
 An hour or two passed in this manner, and 
 then, when some chance allusion had made 
 the conversation grow serious and subdued, 
 Ninian said gravely : 
 
 " Children," — he frequently called them 
 " children," though not in an overbearing tone, 
 with a sort of loving eldership — " there are a 
 few things I want to talk to you about, or rather 
 for us all to talk them over together. Shall 
 we do so now, or defer it until another time?" 
 
 They all answered, " Now !" 
 
 " I think so too; there is nothing like 
 
 c2
 
 20 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 doing what must be done, at once. We can- 
 not know the future. Little we thought, 
 when we so rejoiced over our father's appoint- 
 ment on that scientific expedition, that he 
 would never return to us from it, but that his 
 grave would be in a foreign land." 
 
 There ensued a mournful silence, and 
 Tinie's face was lowered, while her hand 
 sought convulsively that of her elder brother. 
 He took hers and kept it — though he was 
 unused to caressing moods. But perhaps, 
 looking down upon her, he remembered that 
 she had been all her life her father's darling. 
 So he made no more allusion to the now 
 silent name. 
 
 " You will easily understand, children, that 
 our loss makes a great difference in the 
 family income; for though Lindsay has her 
 mother's little fortune, and I ray profession, 
 still we shall not be rich, for a man cannot 
 gain much by the law until he is far older 
 and more established in the world than I 
 am. Then we must consider Edmund's and 
 Reuben's classes, and Charlie's school ; for
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 21 
 
 I am sure that we would all wish our three 
 brothers to be educated as our father in- 
 tended, even though we should each have 
 to make some little sacrifice for the same." 
 
 The girls answered with a cheerful " Yes" 
 — all except Lindsay. Her sacrifices were 
 never made in words — and everybody knew 
 that, or guessed it. For Lindsay was the 
 only one among them who was " inde- 
 pendent;" and many an envious grudge 
 might there have been awakened in the 
 younger sisters, had she not borne her 
 dignities so meekly; while all felt, though 
 none ever saw, the continual generosity of 
 her hand. 
 
 " Then, brother," said Reuben, looking 
 up with his serious old man's expression — 
 it was allowed that in Reuben's queer little 
 head was the chief wisdom of the family 
 — " what are we to do ? If I might ad- 
 Vise 
 
 " Do so ; it will be always open council 
 here," said Ninian, smiling. 
 
 " Then, I think, if we went from this
 
 '^* 
 
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 BEAD Qg IBE TAWTLT. 
 
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 £dBHBd a. stodr. 2^1 ijL^r nrz^ ^ 
 
 
 
 
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 24 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 Trofessor Graeme came of blood that, in the 
 sorrowful days of Covenanting warfare, had 
 dyed purple the Scottish hills. There, as 
 priest of the family flock, self-consecrated, 
 the young man knelt, with his brothers and 
 sisters round him. His voice, at first tremu- 
 lous, and always low, was touched with a 
 solemnity that showed how deeply he felt 
 the vow he then made in his heart, to be a 
 father unto the fatherless evermore. 
 
 They all rose up. Instinctively, one after 
 the other, they went and said good night to 
 Ninian, as they had been accustomed to do 
 to their father — then all disappeared, except 
 the eldest sister. Lindsay stood, her candle 
 in her hand. 
 
 " All is well, Ninian. This first night " 
 
 She paused — stopped — but the brother and 
 sister understood one another. He smiled ; 
 she looked up to him, as if trying to express 
 the great love and reverence there was in 
 her heart — ay, reverence, though he was 
 so much younger than she. But she could 
 not. So they shook hands, bade one an-
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 25 
 
 otlier good-night, and Lindsay followed after 
 the rest. 
 
 But until long past midnight, till the lamp 
 flickered and went out, and there was but a 
 handful of red cinders left of the fire — Ninian 
 sat there, pondering on the charge he had 
 undertaken, on all that lay before him to re- 
 nounce, to perform, and to endure.
 
 26 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 " Well, brother, and what is to be done?" 
 asked Lindsay Gramme, handing across the 
 breakfast-table a letter which Ninian had 
 given her to read. Whereupon the children 
 were all alive immediately; and their curi- 
 osity was only deepened by observing that 
 botlr their brother and sister looked decidedly 
 perplexed. At last Christina, who sat at 
 Ninian's side — a place she seemed to have 
 taken of right — ventured in a pretty wilful 
 way to peep over his shoulder and read the 
 epistle, concerning which the important some- 
 thing " was to be done." 
 
 The twins immediately began to frown, 
 Esther muttering that " Tinie always put
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 27 
 
 herself foremost in everything," and Ruth 
 darting inquisitive glances at the mysterious 
 missive — a pretty note, edged with pink, 
 and sealed with a blue wafer, whereon was 
 embossed an elegant view of the Tower of 
 London. 
 
 Ninian looked round on his little flock 
 with his own half-suppressed, half-humorous 
 smile. " Come, children, no contention, 
 please! Tinie, read it aloud." 
 
 Tinie read: 
 
 " Belle-vue House, Wandsworth. 
 
 " Sir,— (ah! that is scratched out, and 
 " Dear Sir," put in instead.) " Mrs. Watson 
 Jones desires me to acknowledge the receipt 
 of your last, and to state that the Chrisfmas 
 holidays are just commencing, when her 
 charge of myself terminates. She wishes to 
 know what instructions you have received 
 from my father concerning me, or where I 
 am to spend the intervening time until his 
 pleasure be known. 
 
 "I am. Sir, very respectfully yours, 
 
 " Hope Ansted." 
 
 " A very pretty, proper, school-girl epistle,"
 
 28 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 said Tinie, laughing. " Oh, brother! I 
 knew you would have a nice bargain with 
 those wards of yours. What will you 
 do?" 
 
 " I am sure I don't know," answered Ni- 
 nian; and he fairly looked uncomfortable. 
 " She ought to be invited here." 
 
 " But only fancy an English young lady in 
 our quiet home !" observed Esther. 
 
 " Especially at The Gowans," added Ruth. 
 
 The twins were thorough Scottish girls, 
 very reserved, and shy of strangers. 
 
 " I'm sure three sisters are trouble enough 
 in a house without another girl besides," 
 gruffly said Reuben — a decided misogynist 
 at present. 
 
 " I have it — I have it!" said Tinie, clap- 
 ping her hands. " She would exactly do 
 for that angelic creature whom Edmund is 
 so anxious to find and fall in love with, or, 
 as he describes her himself in a scrap I found 
 in his room, 
 
 A something half-divine, half-human, 
 A dream of bliss, sublimed to woman !" 
 
 Here poor Edmund, turning crimson to
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAmLY. 29 
 
 his very brow, made a precipitate retreat. 
 All laughed; but the eldest brother looked 
 grave, and desired "that there might be 
 no more of this folly." And Lindsay, al- 
 ways tender over the boy whom she had 
 nursed through many a long sickness, and 
 comforted in many a wayward mood, soon 
 stole out of the room. They all knew 
 it was to seek Edmund. But the young 
 visionary did not appear again: they heard 
 him up -stairs in the drawing-room play- 
 ing on his beloved piano — Lindsay's gift; 
 probably with Lindsay sitting by him, as 
 she constantly did, though little she under- 
 stood his music, except through the love 
 of him. 
 
 The question concerning Hope Ansted's 
 visit — " to be, or not to be?" — was again re- 
 vived and discussed in full family conclave, 
 and finally reduced to arbitration between 
 the two elder and ruling powers. Ninian, 
 who, in his grave manhood, had a certain 
 comical dislike to all young girls, and, in fact, 
 had never much cared for any female society
 
 30 THE HEAD OF THE FAmLY. 
 
 except that of his sisters, made various 
 objections to the plan. But Lindsay hap- 
 pened to discover a postscript to the note, 
 apparently hastily added in a most illegible 
 girlish scrawl: 
 
 " P.S. — Mrs. Jones doesn't see this. I've 
 
 just heard that my brothers are going to 
 
 spend Christmas in Edinburgh, and I have 
 
 not seen Willie and Bob for such a time ! 
 
 Oh ! Mr. Graeme, if you could but manage 
 
 to get me there ! 
 
 '^ H. A." 
 
 " Poor little creature!" said Ninian com- 
 passionately, evidently quite conquered by 
 this pathetic appeal. 
 
 " Will I write for her to come as soon as 
 we are settled at The Gowans ?" susfffested 
 the kind Lindsay. 
 
 Mr. Grasme assented; rather hastily, for 
 he was just starting to his daily duties as a 
 Writer to the Signet. 
 
 Though the son of a professor, Ninian 
 Grasme was never termed " a clever man."
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 31 
 
 His manner was nothing remarkable ; he 
 had never written a book or delivered a 
 lecture in his life. Yet it was surprising 
 what a number of the wise and learned 
 folk of Edinburgh courted his acquaintance, 
 and relished his plain good sense and the 
 stores of his well-informed mind. Passino- 
 strangers, too, who came to lionise or be 
 lionised among the celebrities of Jtlodern 
 Athens, often took mightily to Ninian 
 Grasme. At the present time, there was a 
 young Englishman who positively seemed 
 to haunt him, and to bestow on him that 
 warmth of temporary friendship, often worth 
 little, but always pleasant for the moment. 
 This young man met Ninian at his office- 
 door. 
 
 " Ha, my good fellow, I was just coming 
 after you. I am longing to go to Roslin 
 this fine autumn morning. What say you 
 — shall we take a hoHday ?" 
 
 " Your life seems to be one lons^ holi- 
 day, Mr. Ulverston." 
 
 " Not at all. When I'm at home I see
 
 32 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 after my property, and study and write." 
 He had, indeed, the look of a man of some 
 brains ; but it was a fashionably intellectual 
 look, indicating one who made literature the 
 mere colourinsj and adornment of life, not 
 its whole aim and end. He was evidently 
 not that individual, most miserable, yet 
 most happy — a poor author. " Come, 
 Grseme, you'll go, won't you ? You can 
 put off business for a day ?" he said, in a 
 tone of persuasive confidence, which marked 
 the man accustomed never to deny him- 
 self, and agreeably confident that his plea- 
 sure must necessarily be that of everybody 
 else. 
 
 " Indeed, I regret it, but I cannot. I 
 have" — here Ninian took up a heap of 
 letters on his table — " I have an hour's 
 work here, which must be attended to. 
 Then I must run down to Musselburgh." 
 . " To Mussleburgh." Mr. Ulverston 
 started, and bent down, tapping his boot 
 with his cane. " Oh ! that is some place 
 near Edinburgh, isn't it ? Do you know
 
 THE HEAD OF THE TAMILY. 33 
 
 any one there, or are you going on office- 
 business ?" 
 
 " Partly on both. I have some law af- 
 fairs to settle, and must meet a friend who 
 lives there, Mrs. Forsyth." 
 
 " Any relation to the Mr. Forsyth to 
 whom you introduced me the other night 
 at Professor Eeay's? A young minister, I 
 remember." 
 
 " He is Mrs. Forsyth's only son. John 
 Forsyth is one of the best among our young 
 preachers, and his mother, a widow, has need 
 to be proud of him." 
 
 " No doubt. Have you known the family 
 long?" asked Ulverston, who seemed to 
 think he had a right to put any ques- 
 tions to anybody, and often did so in a 
   manner that would have been positively 
 rude in any other man. But he had about 
 him such a winning way, that no one was 
 ever offended, and every one charmed with 
 Mr. Ulverston. 
 
 " John and I were schoolfellows, and I 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 have long been his mother's adviser, both 
 in legal and friendly matters. She sends 
 for me to consult me now on a somewhat 
 strange circumstance." 
 
 " Ah, do let us hear it." And Ulverston, 
 turning his back to Ninian, set one foot on 
 the fender, and poked the fire with the toe 
 of the other boot. 
 
 " Excuse me, " said Mr. Graeme ; " it 
 is a private and rather painful matter, 
 which cannot interest a stranwr. " The 
 words were courteous, but the tone was 
 firm; and the young Englishman saw at a 
 glance that, with all his gentleness, you 
 might as well try to pump water out of a 
 rock as to coax a secret out of Ninian 
 Gr^me. So he took up his hat to depart. 
 
 " I am sorry I cannot accompany you, Mr. 
 Ulverston," said the good-natured Ninian. 
 " Unless you like to wait here a little, and go 
 with me to Musselburgh — it is rather an 
 interesting town to strangers, and I know all 
 its queer old nooks."
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 35 
 
 " No, no, I'd rather not. — Well — yes — I 
 think I will," said the young man on a 
 second thought; and, as he always seemed 
 to follow the last and newest impulse, after 
 some little hesitation he came back, and 
 settled himself at the office fire. 
 
 He was a very handsome man — the 
 perfect type of that Norman beauty still 
 seen, though rarely, among the ancient 
 gentry of England. There was something 
 grand and medieeval in the turn of his head, 
 with its curling brow^n hair : you might 
 have fancied a baron's casque set there. 
 The long, fair moustache — a pitiable re- 
 source in improving most modern faces — 
 looked natural and suitable on his, and 
 hid what mio;ht have otherwise marred the 
 correct beauty of the face — the large, some- 
 what too prominent lips, which, however 
 suited to the sensual Norman baron, showed 
 ill with the refined gentleman of the nine- 
 teenth century. Altogether, Mr. Ulverston's 
 face was a strange compound of power 
 
 D 2
 
 36 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 and feebleness, of the intellectual and the 
 animal combined. He sat there, twistino- 
 his figure — perhaps more stylish than 
 graceful — into all sorts of restless attitudes, 
 looking at his watch, poking the fire, read- 
 ing by snatches at the newspaper, then 
 tearing it up and making it into paper- 
 boats, out of very waywardness and want 
 of occupation, till the hour had slipped 
 by. 
 
 Ninian kept to his time punctually — he 
 always did ; and they both started for Mussel- 
 burgh. The young Scotsman took an infinite 
 deal of trouble to explain all concerning the 
 town, from Prince Charlie's bridge down to 
 the traditional rhvme, 
 
 " Musselburgh was a borough when Edinburgh was nana, 
 Musselburgh shall be a borough when Edinburgh's gane." 
 
 — Which seemed the only thinff that in- 
 terested or amused the fitful disposition of 
 Mr. Ulverston, for he kept humming it to 
 himself in an idle way. His conversation 
 was usually rich and sparkling, full of ro-
 
 / 
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 37 
 
 mance, power, and feeling ; so that in their 
 walks even the quiet Ninian was often 
 carried away by it^ and wondered what could 
 be the reason he did not altoo-ether like 
 such a pleasant companion. But to-day it 
 was maintained by snatches, and at last 
 altogether ceased. 
 
 " I must leave you soon," said Ninian, 
 as they walked along ; he taking the wet 
 grassy edge of the footpath, while Mr. 
 Ulverston's marked footsteps — he had 
 rather a peculiar gait — sounded heavily on 
 the gravel walk. " Here is Mrs. Forsyth's 
 garden." 
 
 " Is it ?" He said no more till they 
 reached the gate. 
 
 " Can you wait for me? I will not be 
 long, if possible," observed Ninian. 
 
 " Oh^ no ! I am going back to Edinburgh. 
 And, by-the-by, I think I shall be off to 
 London in a few days. However, I'll see 
 you once more. Good-by, my dear fellow.'* 
 
 He strode away — his steps once more
 
 38 THE HEAD OF THE FARIILY. 
 
 crunching the gravel, and resounding all 
 alons^ the wall. 
 
 Mr. Gra3me entered the garden, after 
 waiting some time, for the gate was kept 
 carefully locked. Passing along, he saw in 
 the walk underneath the garden wall the 
 figure of a lady. 
 
 " Who is that ?" he asked of the ser- 
 vant. 
 
 " It's just the new leddy that's corned 
 here — Mrs. Armstrong. Dinna gang till 
 her — ye'd better not. She's daft, ye 
 ken !" 
 
 " Poor soul !" But thoujjh from a sense 
 of delicacy Ninian did not approach, he 
 could not help casting a glance at the 
 " daft leddy." She did not notice him ; she 
 was listening, with all her ears and all her 
 soul, to some distant sound. Her figure 
 was stooping, her hands crushed together, 
 and her head, turned aside, was bent for- 
 ward in a perfect agony of intentness. It 
 was a touching picture of melancholy mad-
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 39 
 
 ness, perhaps haunted with visions imper- 
 ceptible to the sense of all other human 
 beings. There is great awe and mystery 
 hanging over those whom God has visited 
 thus. 
 
 Mrs. Forsyth, a kindly-looking widow, 
 greeted Ninian warmly. She talked a good 
 deal about " John." He was evidently " John 
 the Beloved" — truly named after him of all 
 the disciples the most " divine," who ever seems 
 to cast the shadow of his sanctity over that 
 simple, common-sounding Christian name. 
 Then Mrs. Forsyth asked Ninian about his 
 own family — but formally, she being not very 
 intimate with them. And at last, coming to 
 the point, she began upon the business con- 
 cerning which she had sent for Mr. Graeme 
 — the matter of her insane guest. 
 
 " I saw her in the garden. It seems a very 
 quiet madness, as you told me. But what 
 made you take such a charge upon yourself, 
 Mrs. Forsyth ?" 
 
 " Oh, poor young thing ! she was a dis-
 
 40 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 tant cousin of my own. Do you mind of 
 her coming here for a day or two, many 
 years ago — a wild sort of a lassie — Rachel 
 Armstrong ?" 
 
 " Armstrong — that was her maiden 
 and married name too, then ? I heard 
 your servant speak of her as Mrs. Arm- 
 strong." 
 
 " Her married name ! — Well, God knows 
 all ; but I think no human being ever will. 
 We call her Mrs. Armstrong just to humour 
 her. That's her delusion. She thinks she 
 is married, and that her husband is abroad, 
 though not one of her friends ever heard 
 of any living soul courting or marrying 
 Rachel Armstrong. She was too proud for 
 her station. She frightened all the young 
 farmers away." 
 
 " I wish you would tell me the whole 
 story," said Ninian, sitting down and putting 
 on what Tinie called "his W. S. face" — 
 that is, his attentive, penetrating, business 
 look.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 41 
 
 " The story is just this. Rachel was the 
 daughter of a small Border farmer — a douce, 
 ordinary sort of man. I suppose she was 
 brought up much like the rest of farmers' 
 daughters in those parts — carelessly enough 
 — for at thirteen I know she could scarcely 
 read or write. Her father died then, and she 
 was taken to live with some other of the 
 Armstrongs. These people tell me she went 
 on much as usual till she was seventeen, 
 when she got a new whim; grew softened 
 in her manners ; tried to educate herself ; 
 and in a few years improved so, that my 
 John, when he was in the Border country 
 last, hardly knew his cousin Rachel. Since 
 then, she took a brain fever — with over- 
 much study the Armstrongs think — and 
 she came out of it the poor daft lassie 
 vou see. The doctor says she may out- 
 grow it, though most likely she'll remain 
 queer all her life. And she's only two-and- 
 twenty!" 
 
 " And so, as you told me, her friends con-
 
 42 THE HEAD OF THE FAJIILY. 
 
 signed her to you, and you are to have the 
 interest of her little fortune for her main- 
 tenance?" 
 
 " It's just that, Mr. Gnerae. And surely 
 I'll be kind to her, for she's a harmless, me- 
 lancholy creature !" 
 
 " I would like to see her," said Ninian, 
 thoughtfully. 
 
 " It will be of little use, for ever since 
 she entered my doors, a month ago, she 
 has not uttered a single word. She sits for 
 hours looking at the sky, or twisting about a 
 ring, that for some whim she has got on her 
 wedding-finger." 
 
 " It may be really her wedding-ring." 
 
 " Impossible I for it was the guard of her 
 mother's. Rachel must have had it for years. 
 No, no," said Mrs. Forsyth, with the air of a 
 woman who had thoroughly fixed her opi- 
 nion, and will not be swerved therefrom, " it 
 is utterly out of the question that Rachel 
 Armstrong can have been really married — 
 or — anything, perhaps worse. It*s just her
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAJMILY. 43 
 
 romance that has turned her brain; for a 
 time only perhaps, and then she'll come 
 into her right mind." 
 
 " Let us hope so," answered Ninian. 
 But further conversation was interrupted by 
 the sudden appearance of the poor maniac. 
 The harmless melancholy of which Mrs. 
 Forsyth had spoken seemed to have all 
 vanished ; she entered the room with an 
 excited look, as if seekinof some one. She 
 rushed up to Ninian, catching his arm, but 
 when she saw his countenance her own 
 changed to a look of blank disappointment. 
 She uttered a sort of restless moan, and 
 turned away. 
 
 " This is my friend, Mr. Ninian Graeme. 
 You will speak to him, will you not, 
 Rachel ?" 
 
 She shook her head, and went and sat 
 down by the window, sw^aying to and fro 
 in a sort of passive despair. A mournful 
 wreck she was, but only as regarded the 
 mind. Her youth and comeliness were still
 
 44 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 retained. Ninian thought he had scarcely 
 ever seen such a striking-looking woman. 
 The shape of her head was magnificent. 
 Her hair, of a deep dark-red auburn, some- 
 what coarse in texture, as that hue generally 
 is, was rolled in heavy waves over her brow. 
 And what a brow ! Smooth, broad, queenly, 
 overshadowing the eyes, conveying the idea 
 of mental power almost beyond a woman. 
 Beneath were eyes such as always accom- 
 pany this rare shade of hair — eyes of a 
 warm, clear brown ; not gleaming, but steady 
 in light; lifted up with a sort of wonder-look, 
 as if they saw what no other eyes could see; 
 usually calm, but with such depths of passion 
 in them, that you felt instinctively the soul 
 which they reflected could be, as fate led, 
 either that of a Clytie or a Clytemnestra. 
 For the rest of the features, the nose was 
 good; the mouth had little beauty. Yet 
 all were spiritualised by the clear, perfectly 
 colourless complexion — pallid, but still fair, 
 and by those wonderful — wonderful eyes !
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 45 
 
 And yet she was mad ! For a moment 
 Ninian could hardly bring himself to be- 
 lieve the fact. There was such a pas- 
 sionate intensity in her look, such a grace 
 and womanly refinement about her dress 
 and mien, quite different from the careless- 
 ness usually manifested by those hapless 
 ones from whom Heaven has taken the lig-ht 
 of reason. But very soon he saw that if not 
 positively insane, there was in her mind 
 some strange warp — some heavy numbing 
 of the faculties. Her eye grew dull, her 
 face blank and immovable^ like a landscape 
 from which the sun has faded away, leaving 
 it all grey and dark. 
 
 " It is no use speaking to her ; she will 
 remain in this way for hours, sometimes. 
 I cannot tell what roused her when you 
 came in. She never before appeared so 
 excited," whispered Mrs. Forsyth. 
 
 " I wonder," said Ninian, pondering a 
 little, and trying to put together, in his
 
 46 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 clear-headed fashion, all the evidence he 
 could muster, to test a belief that would 
 linger in his mind — " I wonder if she mis- 
 took me for any one else, whom she is 
 vaguely expecting?" And he remembered 
 how he had first seen her, eagerly listening. 
 Could it be, that the distant voice of him- 
 self or his companion had touched some 
 strange chord in her wandering mind ? But 
 no — both Mr. Ulverston and himself were 
 quite silent, except for those few words 
 spoken at the gate. And the mere foot- 
 steps of strangers outside the wall could 
 never have affected her thus. 
 
 *' However," thought he, with lawyer- 
 like precision, " I will leave no gound un- 
 tried." So he began to speak aloud to 
 Mrs. Forsyth concerning his morning's 
 proceedings, mentioning several times dis- 
 tinctly, in the poor girl's hearing, the name 
 of Ulverston. But though she paused a 
 moment in her rocking at the sound of
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 47 
 
 Ninian*s voice, and listened as if the tone 
 were pleasant to her — it was indeed the 
 kindest, most cheerful voice imaginable — 
 still she gave no sign of interest or recog- 
 nition. The blankness of her face never 
 changed, but seemed rather to deepen. 
 Ninian's wild, improbable conjecture — 
 awakened by the many strange incidents 
 of life which, during his professional career, 
 he had seen — died away^ as being utterly 
 untenable. But an interest stronger than 
 any which even his kind heart had ever 
 known, was kindled there for poor Rachel 
 Armstrong. 
 
 Before leaving, he determined to go and 
 speak to her — if, perhaps, a stranger's notice 
 mischt break her obstinate silence. " How 
 must I call her, Miss^ or Mrs. .^" asked he of 
 Mrs. Forsyth. 
 
 " J#5., by all means. The contrary only 
 irritates her ; and, considering her delusion, 
 it sounds better to the servant. So we always 
 speak of her as ' Mrs. Armstrong'— the only
 
 48 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 surname we can give her, since we know of 
 no other. 
 
 Mr. Graeme went up to the poor girl. " I 
 am going now. You will shake hands with 
 me, will you not ? and another time we may 
 be better friends." 
 
 Ilachel lifted up her eyes with a sharp, 
 childish expression of surprise; and scanned 
 Ninian's face curiously. Apparently some- 
 thing there pleased or touched her, for she 
 did not refuse to take his hand, though still 
 her lips were as dumb as if no sound had 
 stirred them since her birth. 
 
 He pursued his conversation, trying to 
 make it both in words and manner such as 
 he would address to any lady of mind and 
 good breeding. Possibly this contrasted 
 bitterly with the way in which the poor 
 bewildered one was usually treated ; or, 
 perhaps, something in Ninian, or some 
 fancy connected with him and his coming, 
 caused to vibrate those hidden chords in 
 her spirit, now 
 
 " Like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh."
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 49 
 
 She let him talk on, looking at him the 
 while, as if his very smile were soothino*. 
 She seemed at times as though about to 
 speak, but never did speak, though more 
 than once her lips moved and her eyes 
 sought Ninian's with a look of piteous inquiry. 
 
 " Is there anything I can do for you — 
 any books you would like to read ?" he 
 persisted kindly. She shook her head with 
 a hopeless indifference. " At least you 
 will allow me to see you, when I call again, 
 will you not, Mrs. Armstrong ?" 
 
 As Ninian spoke, her dull eyes kindled 
 with reproach and anger. She set her teeth 
 together, as if it needed more than even 
 the obstinacy of insanity to maintain her 
 self-imposed silence. But her uncontrolla- 
 ble passion would burst forth. She looked 
 round a moment to see if any one were 
 within hearing, and then, lifting herself up 
 with great haughtiness, said, 
 
 "You mistake. Not Mrs. Armstrong— 
 Mrs. Sabine.'' 
 
 VOL. I. E 
 
 «
 
 50 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 And then — the name she had forced her- 
 self to utter seeming to pierce her poor 
 troubled brain like a trumpet-blast — she 
 cried out with one long bitter cry, and 
 fell into convulsions.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 51 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Everybody knows the horrors of a " flit- 
 ting;" at least, everybody who belongs to 
 that worthy, independent rank, our own 
 good middle class — the ever-thrilling heart 
 of the community, which continually sends 
 its lifetide in visrour to the brain and in 
 strength to the limbs ; out of which our 
 thinkers rise to guide, and our workers rise 
 to rule. And to this sphere of the toilers 
 and spinners belonged the Gra3me family. 
 Every one of them laboured hard, with head 
 and hands too, during the flitting, and the 
 preparations towards the new house. For 
 Ninian said that work was good ; and 
 thought — though he did not say — that it 
 
 E 2
 
 52 THE HEAD OF THE FAJHLY. 
 
 would keep them all from sad, or fretful 
 fancies concerning the change which must 
 inevitably be felt in their way of life. 
 
 So now, for the first time, Edmund 
 learned to pack up books as well as read 
 them; and Reuben's mechanical skill was 
 degraded from the making of electrical 
 machines to the putting up of shelves. 
 Lindsay and the twins devoted their whole 
 energies to domestic arrangements; while 
 Charlie's superabundant vivacity was made 
 useful by his being kept in a perpetual state 
 of locomotion for his sisters' benefit. As 
 for pressing Tinie into the service, you 
 might as well have tried to chain a sun- 
 beam J but her light spirit interpenetrating 
 the family mass, seemed to give vitality to 
 the whole. 
 
 The few weeks passed; weeks that might 
 have been sad, for in all change is some 
 sadness, but were kept cheerful through 
 continual occupation. And thus they made 
 ready to leave the house where the old Pro- 
 fessor had dwelt for fifteen long years.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 53 
 
 " You'll not come home any more to this 
 disorderly place, which I know keeps you in 
 a continual fidget, though you never com- 
 plain, brother," said Tinie, running down 
 stairs after Ninian, when, having helped 
 in all the arrangements on the day of the 
 flitting, he was leaving at last for his office. 
 " Certainly Miss Hope Ansted would have 
 been shocked out of her proprieties and 
 gentilities, if she had come last week as 
 she proposed. If she would but stay out 
 of the way till we get settled a little at The 
 Go wans " 
 
 " A week will do that. I wrote and fixed 
 Saturday first for her coming," said Ninian, 
 rather lugubriously, as if resigning himself to 
 a painful necessity. 
 
 " Ah, now ! suppose your ward turns out 
 a nice little creature after all, and you 
 make a pet of her, and like her better 
 than Tinie ? If you do, I'll tell you what / 
 will do. I'll go and marry stupid Bailie 
 Duncan, or solemn John Forsyth, or even 
 that handsome, polite Englishman who called
 
 54 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 the other day when you were out — Mr. — Mr. 
 Ulverston." 
 
 " Heaven forbid !" muttered Ninian. He 
 hardly knew why, but it seemed intensely 
 repugnant, the idea of one of his sisters mar- 
 rying Mr. Ulverston. However, he smiled 
 at his own folly and at Tinie's too. " You 
 goose of a lassie ! as if your brother would 
 let you leave him to marry anybody !" And 
 he pulled the long curls that drooped over 
 the balustrade. " Now good-by till tea-time 
 at The Go wans." 
 
 Just as he opened the door, Lindsay en- 
 tered. She had been busy all day, in-doors 
 and out, and looked wearied and pale. 
 Ninian turned back with her into the Httle 
 parlour, the only room in the house which 
 was not yet dismantled. He went to get her 
 some wine, and, returning, found her sit- 
 tino- in the old arm-chair, her face pressed 
 ao-ainst its cushions. Then he remem- 
 bcred how, years ago, he himself being 
 quite a boy and the rest mere babes, when 
 the children were all put to bed, his eldest
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 55 
 
 sister and a guest they often had, used to go 
 and sit in this little room, talking for hours. 
 He knew she was thinking of it now, and that 
 she felt as none of them could feel, the pang 
 of quitting a house which she was once to 
 have left a bride, had not Heaven's will 
 intervening made her for life a widow though 
 unwed. 
 
 But these things were never spoken of 
 now ; so he only gave her the wine, talked 
 cheerfully for a few minutes, and, departing, 
 sent a private summons to Esther and Ruth, 
 that " Our Sister" was to be watched over 
 with especial care, lest she should over-fatigue 
 herself. 
 
 Ninian was no sentimentalist; and the calm 
 tenor of his Hfe had never known a past — at 
 least not such a past as Lindsay's. Perhaps 
 he had had his dreams, as all young men 
 have, but they were mere outward fancies — 
 shadows floating round the untouched depths 
 of his true heart. Thither the one Angel ot" 
 life had never descended to trouble the waters
 
 56 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 and depart, but even in departing to leave 
 behind a healing power. 
 
 But Ninian Gramme evidently meddled with 
 none of these things. He looked like what 
 he was — a contented, quiet-hearted man, plod- 
 ding from home to office, and from office back 
 to home, yet touched occasionally with keen 
 sympathies from without, as he had been in 
 the case of Rachel Armstrong". Her storv, 
 poor soul ! or such as there was of the 
 same, had strongly interested him. When- 
 ever he thought of it, his cheerful face 
 became grave. And somehow he had lately 
 got into the habit of thinking of it, on 
 his walks to and from his office. Even 
 on this day it haunted him, for he vv-alked 
 on in meditation so deep that he started 
 like an accused criminal on hearing himself 
 called. 
 
 " Just in time to bid you good-by. 
 Jump in, Gramme, and see me to the rail- 
 way," cried Mr. Ulverston, out of a trunk- 
 laden cab.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 57 
 
 " You are leaving us, then ?" And Ninian 
 did not look by any means so surprised or 
 regretful as politeness demanded. However, 
 he good-naturedly joined his friend, or ac- 
 quaintance he himself would perhaps have 
 said, for Mr. Graeme was particular in the 
 minor truths of current phraseology. 
 
 They drove on to that nucleus where so 
 many diverse phases of human life converge, 
 and may be at leisure studied or moralised 
 over — a railway terminus. They had to wait 
 there some time, while the down-train from 
 London disemboo^ued itself of its various con- 
 tents, ere Ulverston could start by the up- 
 train, as he appeared in a great hurry to do. 
 Meanwhile the two young men lounged up 
 and down, conversing together and criticising 
 the passers-by. 
 
 " I thought you had already left. I have 
 scarce seen anything of you since we were at 
 Musselburgh," said Ninian. 
 
 " I've been out of town," quickly answered 
 the other. " Edinburgh is horribly cold and
 
 58 THE HEAD OF THE FAI^HLY. 
 
 dreary now. By-the-by, speaking of your 
 friends at Musselburgh, have you seen any- 
 thing of Mr. Forsyth lately ?" 
 
 "No," said Ninian, briefly; adding after- 
 wards, " Did you like him so much, then ? — 
 would vou have wished to meet him ao^ain ? 
 I could easily have managed it." 
 
 " Thank you, but you see I'm off now. 
 Some other time. — By Jove ! what a pretty 
 face there is under that Quakerish bonnet," 
 cried he, starting off, in his impulsive way, 
 on a new tack, and forgetting everything 
 else in his eagerness to stare at a plainly- 
 dressed girl, who stood pensive and deso- 
 late amidst her \acrorasre, Ninian was not 
 the sort of young man to run wild after 
 " pretty faces," so he just glanced that way, 
 pitying the blank, frightened, helpless look 
 that dulled the beauty of features which 
 really merited Mr. Ulverston's notice. Per- 
 haps, in his universal kindliness, Mr. Graeme 
 might have come forward to offer help to 
 the young creature, who seemed perfectly
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 59 
 
 bewildered with the confusion around her; 
 but he saw that his companion had appa- 
 rently the same intent, and drew back. How- 
 ever, the girl's good angel intervened in 
 the shape of a railway porter, and she, with 
 her possessions, was swept away towards a 
 cab. 
 
 "Confound it!" cried Ulverston, laugh- 
 ing, but looking vexed, " However, I saw 
 her name on her box ; it is " 
 
 Here the warning bell stopped all his re- 
 velations ; and, bidding Ninian a hasty adieu, 
 heaping upon him likewise those meaningless 
 invitations — the mere I.O.U/s of the moment, 
 which nobody ever thinks of presenting for 
 payment — Mr. Ulverston was whirled away 
 southward. 
 
 His late companion could hardly be said 
 to regret the parting ; yet every good-by, 
 even to an indifferent person, leaves a vague 
 dulness behind — a sort of " Well, I w^onder 
 if we shall ever meet again, or how ?" 
 Feeling this, Ninian watched the last speck
 
 60 THE HEAD OE THE FAMILY. 
 
 of the train disappear. Then, finding it 
 was too late to do any good in office-work 
 that day, he lounged about a few minutes 
 longer, and took the next train to Mussel- 
 burgh. 
 
 All things there were as he had left them 
 on his last weekly visit. For he had been 
 with Mrs. Forsyth every week during the 
 illness into which Rachel Armstrong" had 
 sunk. Rachel Armstrong she was still 
 called : Ninian thought he had no right to 
 reveal to any one the name which he, and 
 he only, had heard her utter. But many a 
 time he wearied himself in vain conjectures, 
 and nothing could make him believe that she 
 was really so mad as Mrs. Forsyth thought. 
 Eagerly now, as at every visit, he asked, 
 " If there was any change ?" 
 
 "None. She just holds her tongue, ex- 
 cept for a few^ words now and then to me. 
 Always kindly, too, poor lassie I She's 
 never sulky as she used to be. Still, I 
 can't get anything out of her, though Bell
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 61 
 
 says that half the night through she's at her 
 havers, muttering to herself." 
 
 " Does she look composed ?" 
 
 "You may see, for we brought her down 
 to the little drawing-room close by. Hark ! 
 she's speaking to Bell now." 
 
 It was in a quiet tone, perfectly self- 
 possessed — the voice one of those low rich 
 voices, laden with the burden of a full heart, 
 which we always recognise, and feel its influ- 
 ence we know not why. 
 
 Bell came in most a 'propoF to explain 
 that the poor lady had been saying she 
 wished to see Mr. Grseme, whom she had 
 watched from the window. She always 
 sat watching at the window, morn, noon, 
 and eve. It was the sole fancy remaining 
 of all her " strange ways," Mrs. Forsyth 
 said; in everything else, save her continual 
 apathetic silence and melancholy, Rachel con- 
 ducted herself like a reasonable woman. 
 
 " I am glad she wants to see you, for I 
 had talked a great deal to her about you.
 
 62 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 Though, generally, she doesn't care to see 
 anybody, not even John," said the mother, 
 to whom the last circumstance was the climax 
 of all peculiarity. 
 
 Ninian went in to see the poor maniac 
 who had interested him so much. But 
 nothing of madness was there about her 
 now. Worn by her long illness — her usual 
 pallid complexion grown almost death-like, 
 her eyes larger and more " wonderful " 
 than ever — still greater than the outward 
 chansre was the inward change of the mind. 
 He saw in a moment that there was reason 
 in that face — faint, perhaps, and still ob- 
 scured at intervals, but it was there. And 
 the difference it wrought, showed Ninian 
 yet more clearly that she had indeed been 
 really mad. Then, all the fantasies of her 
 brain must have been delusions too. Re- 
 collecting this, he resolved not to address 
 her by the name of Sabine, or indeed by any 
 name at all. 
 
 "I am glad to see you so much better."
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 63 
 
 He could not say any more than this, so 
 touched was he by the expression of the pale 
 passive face, which tried to smile, and failed, 
 as if smiles belonged to a past life, and not 
 to that sphere of being in which this forlorn 
 one had darkly dwelt so long. The sound of 
 Ninian's voice seemed to call up some phan- 
 toms, yet unlaid, from the dreamy caverns of 
 her brain ; for she drew her hands across her 
 eyes, saying, 
 
 " Yes ; I have been very ill ; and things 
 are still confused a little, here." 
 
 " Would you like me to come another day, 
 when you are stronger ?" 
 
 " No, no ! I wanted you. Ay, I remember. 
 Will you be seated, Mr. Gramme." And now, 
 the shadow being past, her eyes shone with 
 a cold clear light, and her manner took a 
 composed dignity which perfectly astonished 
 Ninian. There was something even queen- 
 like in her attitude and mien, as, gathering 
 her white draperies round her, she leaned 
 back in her arm-chair. It reminded him 
 of Queen Katherine — for Ninian, though.
 
 64 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 no genius, was a man of reading, and 
 loved Shakspeare. Now, in the want of ge- 
 neral conversation, he ventured to make the 
 remark. 
 
 She started — one of her quick wild looks 
 came, and faded. " Ah, indeed ! So you 
 read Shakspeare — as I did, once. Well, per- 
 haps, we do look like that scene, in * King 
 Henry VIIL' is it not ? You are Griffiths, 
 and here is my kind Patience" — she turned 
 affectionately to Mrs. Forsyth — " I, the poor 
 Queen Katherine." And in a voice of deep 
 pathos she repeated — half to herself as it 
 were — the speech beginning, 
 
 " Would I had never trod this English earth, 
 Nor felt the flatteries that do grow upon it ! 
 Ye have angels' faces, but Heaven knows your hearts — '' 
 
 Here she stopped abruptly — " No — not that 
 — I never meant that. How dares any one 
 say I am like Queen Katherine ?" 
 
 " My dear — my poor Rachel I" interposed 
 Mrs. Forsyth, alarmed at the almost threat- 
 ening gleam of the girl's eyes. " Come, 
 don't go back to this play-acting and foolish^
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 65 
 
 ness, which they told me about — I'm sure 
 it was that which was too much for your 
 poor brain." 
 
 "Hush — hush," said Ninian, warninsflv; 
 for he saw that though Rachel spoke no 
 more, the dark shadows of madness, so lately 
 banished, came flitting over her countenance. 
 He changed the conversation : and pre- 
 vented Mrs. Forsyth's kind but ill-judged 
 officiousness from chafing this poor troubled 
 spirit, until at last the good woman quitted 
 the room. 
 
 Then Rachel, who had been leaning- back 
 in her usual apathetic way, suddenly grasped 
 his arm, whispering in a tone agitated in- 
 deed, but perfectly sane : 
 
 " You are kind : I understand you. I am 
 not mad, as they think; but I have been so. 
 Yes; I know I have been mad. It was no 
 Vv'onder." 
 
 " Why ?" 
 
 " I can't tell you; I will not — must not. 
 It is a secret. But I shall hear some day 
 — I know I shall. I fully thought — that day 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 QQ THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 I listened to you in the garden — What 
 
 made you come there ? And — and " 
 
 Her whole face quivered with eagerness — 
 " Was there anybody with you ?" 
 
 " Yes, an acquaintance of mine, Mr. Ul- 
 verston." 
 
 " Ah !" She sunk back with a long, long 
 sigh. 
 
 " Did you know Mr. Ulverston ?" 
 
 " Oh, no, no ! Don't talk about him," she 
 added, restlessly ; " it does not interest 
 me. I never heard the name." And she 
 closed her eyes, sighing once again, so bit- 
 terly ! 
 
 Mrs. Forsyth's heavy footstep was heard 
 on the stairs. Rachel roused herself, clasped 
 Ninian's arm till her long slender fingers 
 felt Hke rings of iron, and whispered, 
 
 " Before she comes back, listen. You 
 remember once I uttered a name ? That 
 was a great sin, because I had promised 
 
 not. I never shall utter it more, until " 
 
 Here her countenance looked heavenly with 
 its momentary rapture. " Therefore, Mr.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 67 
 
 Graeme, if you have any recollection of that 
 
 name " 
 
 " It is, and always will be, as though I 
 had never heard it," said Ninian, firmly. 
 " Be satisfied ; all is safe." 
 
 She cast upon him a look of wild grati- 
 tude ; nay, she even snatched and kissed. 
 his hand. Mr. Gramme felt quite uncom- 
 fortable : he did not understand the roman- 
 tic impulses of such a creature as Rachel 
 Armstrong. But in walking homeward — 
 for he had left as soon as Mrs. Forsyth 
 returned to the room — he pondered over 
 the matter, and his common sense told 
 him it was nothing but what might have 
 been expected from such a youth as hers 
 had been. Entirely shut out from the 
 world, her mind had evidently formed itself 
 from the struggling life within, aided by 
 some single influence from without. But 
 whether her mysteries were, as Mrs. For- 
 syth implied, only " play-acting," or whe- 
 ther they w'ere indeed reality, Ninian could 
 
 f2
 
 68 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 not satisfy himself. He felt a relief when 
 he passed from the excitement which 
 seemed an atmosphere ever surrounding 
 poor Rachel Armstrong, into the serener 
 airs which breathed around his own fire- 
 side. 
 
 It was a clear starry wintry night, as he 
 walked up the little avenue which led to 
 The Gowans ; for the house boasted an 
 avenue, a lawn, and a garden, though all 
 had long lain in a state of desolation. One 
 would hardly believe there was such a soli- 
 tary old-fashioned place so near the centre of 
 a city like Edinburgh. Ninian, who had a 
 fancy for all quaint, quiet nooks, scanned his 
 new home, and gloried in it. 
 
 All was so still and deserted, it might 
 have been Hood's immortal " Haunted 
 House," but for dim rays of light that came 
 through cracked window-shutters, showing 
 for certain that the ghosts were holding 
 revelry. Ninian walked in, smiling to think 
 that his family had already become so ru-
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 69 
 
 ralised as to keep unlatched doors; and there, 
 with the light snow lying in white sparkles 
 on his hat, coat, and hair, he stood before 
 them — an apparition of delight. 
 
 For, jumping round him like very chil- 
 dren, came Tinie, Edmund, and Charlie. Oh, 
 brother, we have been waiting for you a whole 
 hour, because — because " 
 
 Here Ninian's quick eye glancing over the 
 circle, discovered one addition — a girl, very 
 small, and childish-looking, who rose from her 
 seat in the corner, and curtsied with an air 
 decidedly prim. Mr. Grceme bowed. ; and 
 there they stood, until Tinie's merry laugh 
 broke the awkward pause. 
 
 " Oh, what fun ! Here's a surprise ! It 
 was so to us at first ; but she has been 
 three hours in the house, and we've found 
 out we need not have been afraid of her in 
 the least. Guess, brother — g-uess who she 
 
 IS. 
 
 " Tinie," said Esther, as the stranger be- 
 gan to colour, and Ninian to look rather un- 
 comfortable ; " Tinie, I'm ashamed of you.
 
 70 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 Why can't you say at once that it is Miss 
 Ansted? " 
 
 " — Who mistook the date von fixed, and 
 has come a week too soon ; but not too soon 
 for our cordial welcome," added Lindsay, 
 
 kindly. 
 
 Hope Ansted curtsied once more — to Miss 
 Graeme this time — and then, touching Ni- 
 nian's offered hand with the tips of her fingers, 
 subsided into her old corner, guarded on 
 either side by the twins, who, shy them- 
 selves, seemed unaccountably to sympathise 
 with this— the shyest young lady that ever 
 was known. 
 
 Ninian, perfectly confounded at the appear- 
 ance of his ward in a character the very 
 opposite of what they all expected, took 
 the earliest opportunity of stealing apart with 
 Tinie. 
 
 " Did you ever see such a girl !" broke out 
 the voluble ' pet of the family.' " And an 
 English girl, too, who has lived all her life in 
 London. I'm sure she looks as if she had 
 never been outside the walls of her boarding-
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 71 
 
 school. Every sentence she speaks — and 
 she has not spoken a dozen — she brings 
 in something about ' Mrs. Watson Jones.' 
 And at the mere name she looks round as 
 if Mrs. Watson Jones, or her ghost, stood 
 behind. Poor thingr ! I'm sure she has been 
 frightened out of her seven senses, and all 
 the spirit crushed out of her. Her very face 
 shovs^s that." 
 
 " Probably so," said Ninian. He was 
 thinking- that somewhere or other he had 
 seen the face before. 
 
 " It's a pretty face, too," Tinie went on ; 
 " only there's no life in it. And she's not a 
 bad figure, but for that odious brown merino 
 dress, and white linen collar. I hate linen 
 collars; don't you, brother?" 
 
 " Plow should I judge ?" ansvv^ered Ninian, 
 smiling. He had all at once recollected 
 where he had seen that fair, still face, with 
 the down-cast eves. It was the same which 
 Mr. Ulverston had so rudely stared at when 
 they ^ere at the railway terminus. He de- 
 termined not to allude to the fact, as pro-
 
 72 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 bably such a very, very quiet girl had never 
 noticed either him or his companion ; of whose 
 companionship on this occasion Mr. Gricme 
 did not feel altogether proud. 
 
 " She seems quite a child, too ; is scarcely 
 seventeen — for we asked her. And yet 
 she has such a prim, old-fashioned air about 
 her. She'll turn us all into icicles. I don't 
 know how we will mana^^e to Qct on tosre- 
 ther !" continued Tinie, in such a comical 
 despair that her brother was quite amused. 
 
 " Well, my wee thing" — ivee thing was one 
 of Tinie's pet names — " we must all do the 
 best w^e can with her, making allowances for 
 her manners and education." 
 
 " Education ! Why, she can't speak the 
 Queen's English correctly ! She drops her 
 /i's sometimes." 
 
 " Then we'll teach her better. And we 
 must remember what a dreary life she has 
 led; her father abroad — with no mother, or 
 sisters, or elder brothers." 
 
 " No elder brother — ah, Ninian ["^mur- 
 mured Tinie, lovingly pressing close to him ;
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 73 
 
 then adding, in her wilfid way, "Hurrah 
 for Mr. Graeme of The Govvans, guardian, 
 schoohnaster, and general philanthropist !" 
 
 " Hush !" said Ninian, laughing. But 
 his little fairy of a sister had put him into 
 such a good humour, that when he re-entered 
 the parlour he looked quite radiant and 
 handsome. At least so Tinie declared, 
 and was wicked enough to ask the shy 
 guest if she did not think so ? Whereupon 
 Hope Ansted lifted her great eyes, dropped 
 them again, pursed her lips, and said no- 
 thing. She was evidently terribly afraid of 
 Mr, Gra3me. 
 
 The whole family tried to amuse and 
 encourage her — all except Reuben, from 
 whose stern woman -hating cynicism, no 
 civility was ever expected. Edmund ven- 
 tured a few remarks of a poetical nature, 
 but found that she had, as he expressed 
 it, " no soul;" so contented himself with 
 a cold admiration of her beautiful nose 
 and mouth. Tinie attacked her with fun 
 and harmless jokes, but she never laughed.
 
 74 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 and looked quite shocked sometimes.. She 
 only seemed to feel at ease with the twins 
 and their Berlin work, which, she said, 
 " she was very fond of at school. '* So 
 she buried herself among wools and pat- 
 terns ; under which salutary influence her 
 hands unbent from their frigid fold on her 
 lap, and once or twice she was heard to 
 speak in a very precise and timid way. But 
 this was only when the rest were talking so 
 loud that nobody listened, save Ninian; and 
 when she unfortunately caught his eye, she 
 once more grew formal and frightened. In 
 fact, the whole family soon set down Hope 
 Ansted as a common -place school -girl ; 
 which was, indeed, the sole character she 
 could lay claim to — except on account of 
 her beauty, then only dawning, and probably 
 visible but to few eyes. 
 
 The evening passed somewhat heavily; 
 after a time, the young Graemes fairly grew 
 tired of amusing their guest, and left her 
 alone. Ninian tried to address some few 
 remarks to her, but her mind was appa-
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 75 
 
 rently so unformed, or so dull, that even he 
 gave her up in despair ; until at last, bid- 
 ding- her good-night, he did so with a cheer- 
 ful air. 
 
 " You must try to consider yourself quite 
 like one of the children herej but I dare 
 say you feel strange at first." 
 
 " Yes — and no doubt you are quite 
 alarmed at our brother," added Tinie, hur- 
 rying Miss Ansted through the hall ; " isn't 
 he a grave, formal creature — the darling! 
 Everybody thinks him solemn as a judge the 
 first time of seeing him. Did you ?" 
 
 " I had seen him before," said Hope, a 
 faint smile creeping in at the corners of her 
 mouth. 
 
 " Where — where ?" And all the girls 
 clustered round her. 
 
 " At the railway this afternoon. He had 
 with him a gentleman." 
 
 " What sort of a gentleman," 
 
 "Very handsome; the handsomest I ever 
 saw, with such a beautiful fair moustache !" 
 
 " Well," cried Tinie, bounding back to
 
 76 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 the parlour in a hearty fit of laughter; "our 
 demure little maiden has found her tongue, 
 and her eyes too ; she has just been telling 
 us how she met you, brother Ninian, and 
 with you a gentleman, ' the handsomest she 
 ever saw.' " 
 
 " Mr. Ulverston again !" thoug-ht Ninian. 
 But he only said, " Indeed !" patted Tinie's 
 shoulder, and told her to run away to bed.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 77 
 
 CHxlPTER IV. 
 
 " You'll come with us to hear Mr. Forsyth 
 preach to-night before he leaves for his manse 
 in the Highlands ?" said Ninian to Miss An- 
 sted. 
 
 " Yes," answered Hope, who in the course 
 of a few weeks had learned to do everything 
 that Mr. Graeme desired her. In fact, she 
 was one of those malleable characters who 
 are subject to any one's bidding. A thread 
 guided her, as if it were a thread of love. In 
 the genial atmosphere of The Gowans, the 
 poor frozen plant had woke up to a faint life 
 — as Edmund expressed it in a sonnet he 
 wrote — which seemed as if he were trem- 
 bling on the verge of falling in love with her. 
 But he changed his mind, and didn't. 
 
 They all went to hear Mr. Forsyth. It
 
 78 THE HEAD OF THE FAIMILY. 
 
 was at a small town some miles distant from 
 Edinbm-gh — the town where the young minis- 
 ter was born. He had never yet preached 
 there, as Ninian explained to Miss Ansted 
 on their way thither. For Mr. Grssrae al- 
 ways tried to talk to his ward, and draw out 
 what little mind he supposed she had; and 
 sometimes it gave him pleasure to see a faint 
 ray of interest in her beautiful but childish 
 face. He told her the whole story of John 
 Forsyth: how he had risen from the lowest 
 estate of a poor man's son, toiling step by 
 step with indomitable perseverance, until he 
 was able to study for the ministry. How 
 when the spirit of his great calling entered 
 into him, that which was at first ambition, 
 grew into the higher feeling of devotion to 
 the cause whereto he had been sanctified; 
 so that now he was about to give up all 
 his prospects as an eloquent and promising 
 preacher, to become a poor labourer in his 
 master's far vineyard. 
 
 " Is not this great and good ?" said Ninian 
 at last, turning to his silent companion, whom
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 79 
 
 he had almost forgotten in the enthusiasm of 
 talkino- about his friend. 
 
 Hope Ansted said nothing, but there came 
 a sweet thoughtfulness into her childish eyes, 
 and she looked up at Mr. Gramme as if she 
 felt that he, at least, was " great and good." 
 Tinie, who had her brother's othjr rTin, 
 did the same. And Ninian, glancing down 
 upon their young faces, smiled as if they 
 were two pet children growing up under his 
 care. 
 
 They entered the church, a large grey 
 building. It was crowded with people, 
 who came from all the country round to 
 hear the young minister who had once been 
 a " bit laddie" among them. Many of them 
 were whispering — even talking aloud — a 
 custom not unfrequent in a Scottish kirk, 
 though seeming to southern ears strangely 
 inconsistent in such a devout and religious 
 land. All their talk was about John For- 
 syth, and many an eye w^as turned to where 
 his mother sat. By her side was a strange 
 lady.
 
 80 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 " Is that Rachel Armstrong ?" whispered 
 Miss Graeme, who had learnt from Mrs. 
 Forsyth the supposed history of the girl. 
 
 It was Rachel. She might be known by 
 the carriage of her head: so stately, so dif- 
 ferent from every other woman there. 
 
 " She must be quite herself now," Ninian 
 said. " You shall speak to her after the 
 sermon. You might do her good, Lindsay, 
 as you do to every one." 
 
 " Hush !" Our Sister answered, with her 
 soft smile ; for now there came a pause over 
 the murmuring assembly, who immediately 
 fell into the silence befitting a religious 
 service. 
 
 John Forsyth 'stood, a minister, in tlio 
 church where he had worshipped as a 
 child. He was still a very young man, 
 and seemed younger even than he was, 
 from his fair complexion and hair. There 
 was something pure and saint-like in his 
 whole mien. You felt at once that he had 
 been rightly named John, and that the 
 Divine Apostle's spirit was dwelling in him.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 81 
 
 He prayed silently for a few moments; then 
 stood up, and met the one fixed gaze of that 
 thronged mass of people — his own people, 
 too, his friends and his brethren. He had 
 come to be a prophet in his own country. It 
 was a moment that might well have dazzled 
 the senses of the young minister, and brought 
 in worldly thoughts and worldly pride be- 
 tween him and his vow. He looked very pale, 
 and for the first few words his voice was 
 inaudible. Afterwards it gained strength, and 
 he read the opening hymn in a clear impres- 
 sive tone. 
 
 The tune was " Martyrdora.^'' — A few weak 
 notes from the precentor — and then it rose up 
 from the vast congregation in a whirlwind of 
 sound, filling the whole church, rolling, wave 
 after wave, in something higher, diviner than 
 mere melody. The poor old precentor's voice 
 was drowned in that ocean of song. Verse 
 after verse it swelled and sank, all individual 
 discords being lost in its great harmonious 
 flood, until it seemed a fitting type of that 
 infinite Company, which, gathered from all 
 
 VOL. I. o
 
 82 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 the ends of the earth, shall one day be heard 
 " praising God with a loud -voice." 
 
 The hymn ceased ; there was a silence, 
 reminding- one of the " silence in heaven," 
 spoken of in the Revelations; and then the 
 young minister began his prayer. Ninian 
 saw how the mother, unable to stand, sat with 
 her withered hands trembling; his own sis- 
 ters were deeply touched ; Lindsay more 
 than all, for he who long since had prayed 
 his last prayer on earth, had also been a 
 minister. Rachel Armstrong alone remained 
 unmoved, standing fixedly looking forward. 
 Ninian turned towards Hope Ansted, who, 
 startled and affected by this scene, to her 
 so strange, had knelt down in her Eng- 
 lish fashion, her hands half covering her 
 face. He thought what a gentle, girlish 
 face it was, and how different from Rachel's 
 stern beauty. These thoughts were, how- 
 ever, but the flashes of a moment, ere he 
 tried to cast them all aside, and lift his heart 
 where alone it ought to be hfted at such a 
 time and place.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE PAMILY. 83 
 
 The service was long ; but It was one 
 that might never be forgotten in the town 
 where John Forsyth was born. At its close, 
 people forgot to argue, as Scotch congre- 
 gations will always do, concerning the ser- 
 mon ; they only spoke of the man — the 
 young preacher — who was going forth from 
 among them all, to enter on the work of 
 Heaven. 
 
 " And Heaven will prosper it, my dear 
 John," said Ninian, earnestly, as he clasped 
 his old companion's hand, when, the congre- 
 gation having dispersed, the Gra3raes and 
 Forsyths met. Mr. Forsyth stood, with his 
 mother on his arm and his cousin beside 
 him. His fair cheek was a little flushed, 
 but his manner was composed and serene. 
 It only changed when Ninian came and 
 spoke to Mrs. Armstrong. 
 
 " You are quite well now, I hope ? I am 
 so glad to see you here. You, too, must 
 feel rejoiced and proud this day." 
 
 " I ?" she said, listlessly. " Oh ! be- 
 cause of my cousin John. I have little 
 
 g2
 
 84 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 interest in those things, but John asked me, 
 so I came." 
 
 " You ought, indeed, Rachel, for you 
 know how anxious John has been about you, 
 always; I think you might be more pleased 
 than you seem," interposed the mother rather 
 fretfully. 
 
 " Hush, mother !" said Mr. Forsyth, as 
 he walked aside, and spoke to Lindsay 
 Grasme. 
 
 The two families stood together for a 
 good while, talking in the aisle of the 
 church. It was a soft spring evening, and 
 as the lights were put out within the build- 
 ing, the moonshine entered from without, 
 giving to all their faces a spectral, shadowy, 
 look. Especially to that of Rachel, who 
 walked restlessly up and down, scarcely 
 speaking to any one except Edmund, by 
 whose boyish countenance she had seemed 
 attracted and pleased. 
 
 " Do you think she is quite right here 
 now ?" whispered the old lady to Mr. Grceme, 
 with a mysterious finger on her forehead.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 85 
 
 " Jolin tliinks she is; she never alludes to 
 her fantastic notions, and my son -will have 
 it that she was never mad at all, only queer 
 from the fever she had. John is so anxious 
 about her." 
 
 " I see that," answered Ninian, rather 
 sadly, as he noticed that his friend, though 
 talking with Lindsav and the others, con- 
 tinually glanced towards Rachel, with that 
 restless look which often so mournfully tells 
 how to the gazer the whole world is be- 
 coming filled with one human presence. 
 " Does Mrs. Armstrong go out at all ?" he 
 asked. " Would she come and see my 
 sisters ? "We have, or try to have, a merry 
 house at The Gowans, for the sake of this 
 English girl who is living with us." 
 
 " Miss Ansted ? Oh, yes, John was speak- 
 ing of her: a shy, quiet, rather stupid little 
 thing." 
 
 " Nay — not stupid." 
 
 " Well, but about this visit. Eachel, my 
 dear, Mr. Grteme is inviting you to The 
 Gowans. It would do you good, and cheer
 
 86 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 up your spirits," said Mrs. Forsyth, in a 
 sootliing, patronising tone, that evidently 
 galled poor Eachel beyond endurance. 
 
 She said, sharply, " I will not go ;" and 
 turned again to Edmund. 
 
 But some time after, when they were all 
 quitting the church, she suddenly changed 
 her mind, and said to Lindsay, who had been 
 talking with her, " Miss Graeme, I should 
 like to go home with you. It is a week-day 
 evening, though it seems like Sunday, so my 
 cousin cannot object." 
 
 " Oh, no," cried the delighted Mrs. For- 
 syth, " and John shall come and fetch you 
 home." 
 
 "By no means; this boy will be my true 
 knight." And taking Edmund's arm — he 
 seeming divided between the indignity of 
 being called ^'tliis boy," and the pleasure of 
 being noticed by a lady of such fair and 
 graceful presence — Rachel Armstrong went 
 forward, and distanced them all. 
 
 Ninian, with Hope Ansted, walked along 
 beside John Forsyth and his mother. The
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 87 
 
 old lady talked eagerly of lier son's plans, 
 and of the wild northern region whither he 
 was going. 
 
 " And you are satisfied and glad to go ?" 
 his friend asked. 
 
 " Yes," said Forsyth, and his countenance 
 resumed the serene St. John-like aspect 
 which it had lost in Eachel's presence. "I 
 
 think above all things one ought to set one's 
 duty, and this seems mine. To be sure, it 
 will be dreary at first, for my mother stays 
 behind, and I hear the manse is a desolate 
 place; but in time — in time, it may grow 
 cheerful." 
 
 " When he has a wife and bairns," whis- 
 pered Tmie to Hope Ansted: " Why don't 
 you try for the vacant office ? you'd make a 
 capital minister's wife." 
 
 Hope looked timidly at her guardian, then 
 cast her eyes down, and said, " she never 
 thought of such things." 
 
 It was nine o'clock before they reached 
 The Gowans: a mild, still night, so bright 
 that they could see the little crocuses and
 
 88 THE HEAD OF THE EAJMILY. 
 
 snowdrops peeping up from under the leaf- 
 less buslies. Edmund went and brought 
 some to Mrs. Armstrong. She took them 
 with an almost childish pleasure, looked at 
 them until her eyes grew heavy with a 
 trouble that would not rain itself out in 
 tears. 
 
 ' " It is a long, long time since any one has 
 brought me flowers," said she, in a broken 
 voice ; and then, during all tea-time, she sat 
 still and scarcely spoke. 
 
 The evening amusements of the ck-cle 
 went on much as usual, for so Ninian and 
 Lindsay had agreed would be best. None 
 took much notice of their new visitor, except 
 Edmund, who kept near her, and seemed to 
 read her strange pale face with all his boyish 
 soul. After supper, the girls, with Hope 
 Ansted, sat and worked ; while Charlie learnt 
 his lessons, and Reuben, in despair of other 
 entertainment, took out his electrical ma- 
 chine, and began to electrify the cat. Soon 
 the circle gathered round him, and peals of 
 laughter, even from the quiet Hope Ansted,
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 89 
 
 testified to tlie pleasant family fun that con- 
 tinually lighted up The Gowans. 
 
 " I wish I were a child — I wish I were a 
 child!" muttered Eachel Armstrong ; while 
 fitful shadows, sometimes of mirth, some- 
 times of bitterness, came and went over 
 her features, as she sat and watched " the 
 children." 
 
 " Wherefore ?'^ said Ninian. 
 
 He in his turn had been watching her. 
 
 " Because — nay, I cannot tell, but I want 
 to be a child. 1 Avant to laugh and be 
 merry. I am so young, and yet hfe seems 
 so long — so dull. Couldn't you tell me 
 what I must do ? And with a sorrowful 
 entreaty she looked up at Ninian. 
 
 There was in him a something; to which 
 every one instinctively came for help. 
 
 " How do you mean ?" 
 
 " I scarcely know, only that my mind is 
 so restless, and yours seems ever so quiet 
 and good. Mrs. Forsyth chafes me, kind 
 though she is ; but you always make me 
 feel calm and at rest. Couldn't you help
 
 90 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 me — couldn't you think of something to 
 make the - days pass quicker during this 
 weary, weary waiting ?" 
 
 " Waiting for what ?" 
 
 She pressed her Hps together angrily. 
 
 " I will not tell you. Nay, do not look 
 at me so, as if your eyes would force out 
 the truth. I cannot tell a falsehood, but I 
 can keep silence." And her former excited 
 manner came back, though she struggled 
 hard to keep it down. 
 
 It was touching to see how the still per- 
 turbed mind, as if conscious of the chaos 
 that had been, strove to control itself, and 
 guide its wandering fancies into the light 
 
 of reason. 
 
 " Another time, Mrs. Armstrong," said 
 Ninian, gently — " another time we will have 
 a long talk together, and I will tell you 
 what I think would amuse and occupy you. 
 Study, for instance. My sisters study every 
 night, though they are nearly as old as you 
 are; but, I think, not so well educated." 
 
 " You consider me well educated then ?"
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 91 
 
 eagerly cried Rachel. " There is nothing 
 in me very ignorant, or low, or repulsive, is 
 there ? — You are quite sure of that ? 
 Though I was — yes I was — a mean farmer's 
 daughter." 
 
 " That excites my wonder,'' Ninian an- 
 swered, in his frank way. " I was aware in 
 "what a lowly estate you were born. You 
 need not be ashamed of that, you know, but 
 rather proud in having conquered all hin- 
 drances, and become the woman that I feel 
 you are; without compliment — a woman of 
 cultivated mind, and as true a lady as any 
 I know. However you contrived to attain 
 all this is a mystery." 
 
 " Ah ! is it— is it ?" 
 
 Her eyes literally gleamed ; whether with 
 pride, or joy, or — Yes, it was something 
 greater than both ; the only light which, 
 shining from a human face, however plain, 
 glorifies it into a beauty almost divine. 
 
 " You must have had an intense thirst 
 for knowledge," Ninian continued, " and an
 
 92 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 energy of will almost marvellous in a wo- 
 man, considering the sort of people among 
 whom you lived." 
 
 " They were brute beasts, and I was one 
 of them !" cried Rachel. " Ah ! you should 
 have known me in those days ! I was plain 
 — I was coarse. If you had seen these 
 
 hands, brown and rough with labour " 
 
 And she stretched out a hand and arm, 
 large, but beautiful in form and colour. 
 "Nay, worse than all, if you had looked 
 into my heart and mind, both as blank and 
 dark as a winter's night, thrilled with distant 
 storms. For I was stormy, too. When my 
 passions rose I could do anything — any- 
 thing ! And I had no counsellor to rule 
 me, no intellect or education to cjuidc me. 
 Oh, what a creature I was !" 
 
 She said this, as if she took pleasure in 
 hurling disdain upon her olden self; though 
 in speaking that strangely proud, defiant, 
 yet rapturous smile was never absent from 
 her face.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMIF.Y. 93 
 
 " In truth," said Ninian, " you have cause 
 to take pride in what you have accom- 
 plished." 
 
 " I take pride !" she repeated. ^' Yes, I am 
 proud, and glad too ; but not for myself." 
 And the softness and womanliness of her 
 voice and mien were such as Ninian had 
 never before seen there. 
 
 " I do not quite understand you," said he 
 at last, rousing her from a dreamy silence 
 into which she had fallen. 
 
 Mrs. Armstrong seemed to recollect her- 
 self, and became reserved immediately. 
 
 " Understand me ? There is nothing to 
 be understood, except that I was such and 
 such a girl as I described^, and I have made 
 myself the woman you see. How I stand in 
 yoiu'fair graces, surely I ought not to be so 
 vain as to inquire." 
 
 She laucrhed — almost the first time that 
 Ninian had ever heart her laugh. 
 
 " I am most glad to see you so cheerfril," 
 he answered, with warm sincerity ; "and
 
 94 THE HEAD OF THE FAJiOLY. 
 
 some day you must tell me liow and Avhy 
 you did all this." 
 
 " How and why ! That would be a long, 
 long story, Mr. Graeme," she said, and some 
 silent thought sat smiling in her eyes. " But 
 we will talk as much as you please. I like 
 to talk to you, it does me good ; it brings 
 back the old, old life " 
 
 She paused abruptly, and broke the con- 
 versation by walking to one of the windows 
 where Edmund stood. 
 
 *' You dreamy boy ! so you like to watch 
 the moon," cried Rachel, touching him on 
 the shoulder, at which he started sensi- 
 tively. " Nay, never blush ; I did the same 
 myself at your age. We, every one of us, 
 do the like in our turn, do we not, Mr. 
 Gramme? After all, 'tis a happy time of 
 life, that of your brother, here. What is 
 his name ?" 
 
 " Edmund," said Ninian, who had fol- 
 lowed to the window. 
 
 "Edmund Geoffrey," said the boy him-
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 95 
 
 self, who was very proud of being named 
 after the father of Enghsh poetry. 
 
 " Geoffrey ! Are you named Geoffrey ?" 
 She drew in her breath, and changed colour 
 for a moment. " That is well — it is a good 
 name. I shall always call you Geoffrey, if 
 I may?" 
 
 Edmund smiled a glad consent. 
 
 She touched the boy's shoulder with her 
 
 hand. " You are tall — almost as tall as 
 
 Ah, well ! do you think it is quite fair for a 
 laddie like you to tower above me, who am 
 no small woman, either ? What a man you 
 will grow to — tall and strong! Your arm 
 feels so firm, too; and just the same height 
 as — I told you before that I liked walking 
 with you — Geoffrey." She paused over the 
 name ; uttered it softly, in a changed tone ; 
 half-sighed; and then, still leaning on the 
 boy's arm, she stood, her head turned away, 
 watching the moonlight. 
 
 " Come, if you will grow so sentimental, 
 you had better take refuge in ray study," 
 said Ninian, somewhat amused, but glad to
 
 96 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 see that tlie forlorn Kachel had at last found 
 an interest, and perhaps feeling a sense of 
 brotherly pride in her liking for his favourite 
 Edmund, who, though contemned at times, 
 was always secretly respected as the genius 
 of the family. " See, the children are all 
 bemnnino; blindman's buff, or some such 
 awful game. Suppose we three make our 
 escape. I have writing to do ; but Edmund 
 can show you his books. You can t think 
 what a student he is," Mrs. Armstrong, said 
 the 2;ood elder brother, as he led the wav to 
 a little low room, where there was a solitary 
 light " dimly burning." 
 
 Here, very soon, Ninian settled himself 
 at his papers, for he had to work hard — how 
 hard none but himself knew — to keep " the 
 wolf from the door" of his large household. 
 But he did it cheerfully — he loved them all 
 so much. Even now, at intervals, he forgot 
 his work, to look up with fraternal pleasure 
 at Edmund's kindling face, as the boy, quite 
 in his element, talked to Rachel Armstrong 
 of his favourite studies, and the books he
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 97 
 
 loved. Her conversation led him on — (and 
 Ninian was surprised to find how brilliant 
 and full of both knowledge and feeling Ra- 
 chel's conversation was) — he brightened up, 
 and there was an energy and fire in his whole 
 mien that might well have charmed her — as 
 it evidently did. 
 
 "Go on; I like to hear you talk," Ninian 
 heard her say to the boy, as they held be- 
 tween them a volume of Chaucer, and were 
 deeply discussing ' Griseldis' and 'The Flower 
 and the Leaf.' " Or, for a change, suppose 
 you were to come and read aloud. Reading 
 used to be so pleasant to me — so pleasant!" 
 And she shaded her eyes with her hand. 
 
 Edmund was all delig-ht. He brouo'ht an 
 arm-chair for her, and a low seat for himself. 
 
 "No; change places — it is my whim," 
 said Rachel, smiling. " Poets, or readers of 
 poets, should surely have the upper seats;— 
 I will be the humble listener. Well, what 
 book have you chosen?" 
 
 " Coleridge. Shall it be the ' Ancient 
 Mariner,' or ' Kubla Khan,' or " 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 " Whatever you love best. I loved all — 
 once. It is long, very long, since I have 
 read or thought of poetry." She sat down, 
 leaning her elbow on her knees, and looking 
 straightforward into the fire. Ninian thought 
 he saw shadows, heavy and dark, crossing her 
 face, which was only visible now and then, in 
 the glimmer of the fire-light. 
 
 The boy read on; he had a pleasant voice, 
 and felt what he read. There might have 
 been faults, for a truly good reader is about 
 as rare as a truly great poet; but there was 
 that heart-modulation — the echo which lofty 
 poetry ever finds in a nature " yet unspotted 
 from the world." Ah! however we may 
 mock at this in maturer years, calling it 
 sentimental folly, we all feel in our inmost 
 souls that it w^as true — true as love, or death, 
 or the world to come, and all the other awful 
 realities that we sometimes learn to scoff or 
 smile at aside, because we dare not look them 
 in the face. Ay, we may scoff and we may 
 smile for a time, at these dreams of our 
 romantic vouth ; but when in the calmness of
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 99 
 
 age all things grow clearer to our view, we 
 acknowledge, with a pensive tenderness, that 
 they were happy and heavenly dreams after 
 all. 
 
 Rachel sat listening to the boy. Some- 
 times she looked at him, but not often; she 
 apparently liked best to hsten and not look. 
 When he ceased, she started as if from a 
 reverie. • 
 
 " Go on ; read some more. I was very 
 fond of being read to — once." Her lips 
 smiled;- but in her eyes was a light sadness; 
 the momentary shadow that always comes 
 over us when we say, " I wasy 
 
 " I will read you my favourite, ' Gene- 
 vieve,' " answered Edmund. 
 
 "Ay, do; for I love it — I love it!" she 
 said, her eyes shining with the rare expres- 
 sion that lit them at times, and made their 
 cold crystal depths all ablaze with some in- 
 ward warmth and glory. " I'll tell you," she 
 added, laying her hand on the boy's knee, — 
 " ril tell you how I first heard ' Gene- 
 vieve.' It w^as when I was quite a girl; 
 
 h2
 
 100 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY 
 
 four, five years since. What a long time 
 five years seems ! Well, well ! I am not 
 now what I was then !" And she tossed 
 back her head with a smiling, graceful pride. 
 " But what was I telling you? I forget." 
 
 " About the poem, and where you read it." 
 
 " Heard it ; I never read in those days. 
 It was on a moonlight night — a harvest- 
 moon, — I remember; for our kirn had been 
 held the week before. Ah ! that kirn !" She 
 paused, but soon went on : " Well, as I said, 
 it was moonlight. Now I was an ignorant, 
 stupid girl — so everybody told me ; but I 
 sometimes had strange fancies on moonlight 
 nights and sunsets, or when I was alone; and 
 I had lately begun to gather up ray thoughts, 
 wishing I were not so ignorant and foolish." 
 
 " How could that be ? What made you 
 imagine yourself so?" asked Edmund, with 
 great simplicity. 
 
 "Look you," said Rachel, earnestly; "if 
 you were sitting in the dark, with foul things 
 all round you, and yourself poor, and blind, 
 and miserable, — but yet not feeling this,
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 101 
 
 since you had never known anything higher; 
 if, then, there came and stood an angel in 
 your sight, scarcely looking at you, only 
 standing there, — perhaps once turning to- 
 wards you with a sort of compassionate in- 
 terest, nothing more; but still standing there, 
 continually filling you with the light of his 
 presence, showing all things black beside him, 
 showing you above all yourself — so mean, so 
 lowly, so vile, — until you longed to tear off 
 the rags you had thought fine garments^ and 
 be clothed like him — until you felt happy if 
 you could only crawl near enough to breathe 
 the same air he made so pure and glorious; 
 
 and But how I run on/' said Rachel, 
 
 pausing abruptly as she saw Edmund's look 
 of utter astonishment. " You romantic boy \ 
 you have made me as poetical and nonsen- 
 sical as yourself. Was not that a grand 
 apologue I was telling you ?" 
 
 " I thought you were to tell me about 
 ' Genevieve.' " 
 
 " Well ; and I will. So, for the third 
 time, I begin: ' It was a moonlight night !' I
 
 102 TPIE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 was walking near the ruins of an old castle, 
 — I and — one who condescended to teach 
 me sometimes. We were talking of our 
 Border ballads, the only poetry I knew. 
 He said " 
 
 " Your master ?" 
 
 " My master ?" The proud woman's head 
 was raised, then sunk again humbly, even 
 smilingly. '' Yes, he was my master." 
 
 " And what was it he said ?" 
 
 " Something— I forget. But it was there, 
 from him, that I first heard ' Genevieve.' " 
 
 " What a strange fancy for an old village 
 schoolmaster !" 
 
 Kachel laughed — the sweet low laucrhter 
 with which we mask some pleasant secret: 
 that lurks behind: 
 
 « Ah, but you're a wonderfu' laddie !" 
 cried she, falling into the broad intonation 
 which marked her humble birth, and which 
 at times peeped out, though in general she 
 spoke with an accent remarkably pure, and 
 was never betrayed into a provincialism that 
 she did not carefully correct immediately.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE TAMIL Y. 103 
 
 " Come, Geoffrey," she said, " read some 
 more, if you are not wearied of me and my 
 little sketches of autobiography." 
 
 " Never! I wish you would tell me your 
 whole story from the beginning. It must 
 have been something strange, for your face 
 and manner are strange too — different from 
 any lady I ever knew." 
 
 " How so ? Do you see anything unlike 
 a lady in me?" she said, with an anxiety 
 quite incomprehensible. " I know I am 
 utterly ignorant of the world — as ignorant 
 as a child. He said so ; but he liked me for 
 that." 
 
 " Who liked you ?" 
 
 " Oh — the — the ' village schoolmaster ' 
 you spoke of," said Rachel, with her old 
 smile. "He lent me books, I being just 
 a poor girl, and he a kind-hearted man ; 
 and so I became less ignorant — less un- 
 worthy. I could not make myself into a 
 lady — a modern lady, for I had never seen 
 one; but I tried to be like one of Shak- 
 speare's women, or Spenser's, or Walter
 
 104 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 Scott's. And when, after two or three years, 
 my — that is, my master, as you say — came 
 back, he was — not displeased with me !" 
 
 " How could he, indeed !" cried Edmund, 
 with enthusiasm. " The kind, worthy man ; 
 how he must have loved you !" 
 
 " He did — he did," Rachel murmured, and 
 her whole being seemed to dilate with a rap- 
 turous pride. " Mean as I had been, lowly 
 as I then was, and am, compared to him, still 
 he did love me. Nothing shall ever take 
 that belief from me — nothing!" Though her 
 words were resolute, they seemed those of 
 one fighting with a vague trouble. Turning 
 round, she saw Ninian's eyes fixed upon her; 
 she drew back, and her cheek flushed less in 
 shame than anger. " I hope you have been 
 amused, Mr. Gramme, by the nonsense I have 
 been talking to this boy. You have heard 
 it all, of course ?" 
 
 " I have." 
 
 " Well, what do you think of it and of 
 me ?" she asked, defiantly. 
 
 " Nothing but what adds to your honour,
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 105 
 
 and to my sympathy ; nothing that I did not 
 already dimly guess before," he said, in a low- 
 voice, as he went out of the room. 
 
 " Why ^do you tremble ?" cried Edmund, 
 watchinof her; indeed, he had scarcely ever 
 taken his gaze of boyish admiration from her 
 face. " Sit down again — let me call Our 
 Sister to you." 
 
 " No ; I am only tired. It is late — I will 
 go home." 
 
 " Then I will get ready to go with you, 
 Mrs. Armstrong." 
 
 " Mrs. Armstrong I You shall not call 
 me so," she said, sharply ; " it is an ugly 
 name — I like Rachel best. You may, if you 
 like, say ' Rachel,' and I will say ' Geoffrey.' " 
 She paused over the name, as she ever did, 
 uttering it with an intonation softer and 
 sweeter than any other word. " Now, my 
 boy, away ! I will wait here, and then we 
 can slip out quietly. I do not want to go 
 among your sisters again ; they are so merry 
 
 — so merry ! and I Well, 'tis nothing 
 
 — nothing."
 
 106 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 She sat down once more on the stool be- 
 fore the fire, wrapping her arms on her knee 
 and laying her head upon them. For a long 
 time she remained motionless and silent; then 
 murmured : 
 
 " It is hard — very hard ! Oh, Geoffrey, 
 Geoffrey — how long " 
 
 " Did you call me?" said Edmund, eagerly. 
 He had just come in with his brother and 
 John Forsyth. 
 
 " Call you f She sprang up and saw the 
 three. Her flushed face struggled into 
 quietude — she tried to assume the some- 
 what stately manner she at times affected, 
 in which the innate refinement of her mind 
 struggled with the formality used to cloak her 
 old plebeian ways. But there was a tremor 
 and restlessness about her all the while. 
 
 " I did not expect you^ cousin John. I 
 wished this boy to be my escort." 
 
 " Nevertheless, my mother and I could 
 not rest contented. You are not angry 
 that I came ?" said the young minister 
 humbly, while a vague look of disappoint-
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 107 
 
 raent troubled his face, else so saintlike and 
 boyish-fair. As he stood by Rachel Arm- 
 strong, there appeared between them that 
 strange contrast which Nature sometimes 
 fantastically wills, putting the man's nature 
 into the woman, and the woman's in the man. 
 Out of these elements union is oftentimes 
 evolved, if qualities so transposed can be 
 called union ; but it was evidently not so in 
 this case. 
 
 " Why should I be angry, cousin?" Rachel 
 answered. " It is very kind of you; you 
 are always kind. But I had rather v;alk 
 home with my young friend here ; as I told 
 you. Come, Geoffrey!" She linked her arm 
 in that of the delighted boy, and left the 
 room with him, 
 
 "John!" said Ninian, after a pause, his 
 kind eyes resting on his friend. 
 
 " Well, Ninian !" The young man tried to 
 smile, but his face quivered like a woman's. 
 He apologised ; hiding his weakness, as men 
 usually do before each other. " I am not 
 quite vrell, I think. I have had an anxious
 
 108 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 time of late. It will be better for me when 
 all is over." He broke off, seeming to tremble 
 at his own prophecy. 
 
 " Yes ; when all is over, and you are 
 settled at your manse in the Highlands. 
 Think what a great work you have before 
 you there." 
 
 " Ay, my Master's work. I ought to give 
 myself wholly to that — I ought — I ought! 
 And yet, Ninian " 
 
 " We are quite ready, and your cousin 
 bade me call you," interrupted Edmund, at 
 the door. 
 
 John Forsyth grasped his friend's hand, 
 and vanished instantly. 
 
 It was with a thoughtful, even sad gaze, 
 that Ninian saw the three depart. Indulg- 
 ing in a sort of tranquil sigh, as if he con- 
 gratulated himself on his own serene and un- 
 stirred heart, he went back to his book, till 
 Tinie teazed him out of it; and then he sat 
 for a long time, smiling at her chatter, and 
 idly watching the shadow of Hope Ansted's 
 curls, cast on the parlour wall.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 109 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 " You said it would be better when all 
 was over : well — all is over !" 
 
 Such was the hoarse, hurried speech which 
 burst from John Forsyth, after half an hour's 
 ordinary chat, and a long interval of silence 
 following. The two friends were sitting to- 
 gether alone in Ninian's study. 
 
 Mr. Graeme looked up. He had been lis- 
 tening to the clear voices of the girls singing 
 in the next room ; thinking likewise how 
 much good they might all do to one an- 
 other, now that Hope Ansted's freezing 
 boarding-school formalities were wearing off, 
 and her true nature appearing now and then. 
 He had even proposed to himself a plan for 
 lengthening her visit, and sending her with
 
 110 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 " the cliildren" to the shores of Clyde, if by 
 any means he could afford them a summer 
 trip. Her accomplishments — since of late it 
 had been found out that, though only half- 
 educated, she was externally " accomplished" 
 — would be of infinite advantage to Tinie. 
 For herself, surely the most frozen-hearted 
 young lady in the world must benefit by asso- 
 ciation with Tinie's frank, warm natui^e ! So 
 pondered the affectionate brother; until his 
 pleasant musings were broken by those three 
 words — ever so full of bitterness — "All is 
 over !" 
 
 He forgot himself, and his whole thoughts 
 flew to his companion, his old playmate, 
 whose simple heart had ever been open to 
 him. The contrast in their characters — 
 Ninian's strength and John Forsyth's almost 
 feminine gentleness — had brought into the 
 bond a degree of tenderness, even affection, 
 such as rarely subsists between man and 
 man. 
 
 He laid his hand on Forsyth's shoulder. 
 " John, I know all — or guess all. You may
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. Ill 
 
 speak to me or not, just as you like. If I 
 could do you any good, being some years 
 older than yourself " 
 
 " But you never felt as I feel. Oh, how 
 I have loved that woman !" Uttering 
 this, or rather letting it burst from him, be- 
 cause the pang was too strong for his con- 
 trol, John Forsyth bowed himself almost 
 in shame. 
 
 " You are right ; I don't think I ever did 
 feel thus," said Ninian, considerately turning 
 the conversation on himself and from his 
 friend. " I have had my fancies as a boy, and 
 even as a young man. We all have, over and 
 over again, until the world's hard struggle 
 knocks our foolish dreams out of us. And 
 mine were never very serious/' he added, 
 smiling. " I love my home and my sisters 
 better than any woman in the land." 
 
 " You are sure of that ?" cried Forsyth, 
 eagerly. 
 
 " Yes, quite sure. Why?" 
 
 " Because — Never mind, it was all folly 
 — the folly of a man who thinks all the world
 
 112 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 must see his idol with his own eyes. But 
 tell me one thing, Ninian. How is it that 
 you are such friends with her ? How is it 
 that she, who hates strangers, likes you — 
 lets you talk with her, reason with her, even 
 control her? This has almost made me 
 mad at times, though it was, after all, only 
 the influence you seem to have over every- 
 body. And I trusted you, Graeme. I knew 
 you would never be so " 
 
 " That I should never be so mistaken as 
 to think in any way but as a friend of Rachel 
 Armstrong," said Ninian, gravely. " I be- 
 lieve, — and I hinted the same to you long 
 ago, — that any man who did so would only 
 bring sorrow on himself." 
 
 " I know it. But in these matters we 
 cannot help ourselves. If we could, what 
 an awful thing that I, a minister before God, 
 with my whole soul lately vowed to His 
 service, should forget it all — all — earth and 
 heaven together, in the passion with which 
 this woman has filled me. Oh ! how I scorn 
 and loathe myself!"
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 113 
 
 It was indeed pitiful to see the change 
 wrought in him who had looked down so 
 serene, so apostle-like, from the pulpit, only 
 a few months before. Ninian was stirred 
 with a feelino- of great compassion — more 
 compassion than sympathy, for he was be- 
 holding what he scarce understood — how could 
 he ! Yet he w^as conscious of a sort of vag'ue 
 unrest, as if his heart warned him that the 
 agony of emotion he now witnessed was one 
 universal and inevitable as death. It might 
 come to himself in time. 
 
 He said, tenderly, " John, we have been 
 
 boys together. You need not mind telling me 
 
 anything or everything which has happened. 
 
 What do you mean by saying that ' all is 
 over ?' " 
 
 There was no resisting his gentleness ; and 
 
 John Forsyth, in those words, few and broken, 
 
 with which suppressed feeling ever speaks, 
 
 told his story — a story which, except under 
 
 rare circumstances such as these, one man is 
 
 generally very slow to tell to another — the tale 
 
 of disappointed love. Unable to bear the soli- 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 114 THE HEAD OF TEE FAMILY. 
 
 tude of his manse, haunted even in his sacred 
 duties by this passion which had risen up he 
 knew not how, he had come back determined 
 to risk all, and at once win or lose the woman 
 who had so enthralled him. 
 
 " How did she receive you ? What was 
 her ansAver ?" asked Ninian, almost as strongly 
 moved as if his own fate had hung upon the 
 balance. 
 
 " She gave none ; she smiled and seemed 
 at first to believe I was jesting; mocked at 
 the possibility of such a thing as love be- 
 tween us, whose natures were as wide asun- 
 der as the poles. I knew that," bitterly added 
 John Forsyth ; " there was no sympathy 
 between us in any one thing, and yet I loved 
 her. It often happens thus." 
 
 " I believe so, for a time at least," said 
 Ninian -, but he had too much tact to intrude 
 his own particular theory on that subject, 
 though from it he drew consolation as re- 
 garded his friend. 
 
 " At length, when I was half beside myself, 
 she changed her manner to taunting, and
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 115 
 
 asked me what my mother would say to my 
 wooing her, who had been thought mad, who 
 had said of herself, and about w^hom there 
 had been said, such strange things, I an- 
 swered that I cared for none of them — that 
 all her delusions sprang from her fever — 
 that I believed she was the true, pure-hearted 
 girl I had ahvays known her, my cousin^ 
 Rachel Armstrong. On which she cried out 
 that it was false, for that she was not Rachel 
 Armstrong; and her old wild looks and wild 
 fancies came over her, until I dared not say 
 another word." 
 
 Ninian looked troubled. Whatever he had 
 known or guessed of Rachel's secrets, he 
 had sedulously kept in his own breast. He 
 thought it his duty. But here was a great 
 strait. Keenly he felt it, when John Forsyth, 
 after long w^aiting for the words of advice, 
 of consolation, to gain v/hich so many came 
 to Ninian Grceme, said in a tone of much 
 agitation, 
 
 "• Do you think my mother was right after 
 all, and that Heaven has seen fit to lay this 
 
 i2
 
 116 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 awful doom upon one who else would be too 
 like an antxel ! Do you think my poor Ra- 
 chel is really mad ?" 
 
 " No !" answered Ninian; he could not but 
 answer thus. " Still her mind has been touched ; 
 she confessed so one day to me. I imagine 
 it was by some great shock. . However, we 
 
 must have patience. If " and a sudden 
 
 thought appeared to strike him. " If you 
 would let me speak to her." 
 
 The unfortunate lover brightened up; he 
 clung to any straw. " Oh ! do speak to her. 
 She may be guided by you." 
 
 " We shall see ; but I warn you, John, as 
 I warned you before, it is my firm belief that 
 no man livins^ will now win Rachel Arm- 
 strong." 
 
 Yet she was indeed a creature that many 
 a man might have longed to win. Ninian 
 thought so, when reaching Musselburgh, he 
 saw her who had been called the " daft leddy," 
 sitting, as an olden record touchingly says of 
 another poor maniac, " clothed, and in her 
 right mind." And truly hers was a mind of
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 117 
 
 no common order. Lately NInian had felt 
 convinced of this^ and had supplied her with 
 books, so as to gratify her craving desire for 
 the cultivation of her intellect. 
 
 " What a marvellous progress you have 
 made in these few months," said he, as, to 
 open the conversation naturally, he took up her 
 books in succession. " Here are your German 
 and Spanish authors, Schiller and Calderon. 
 How fond you seem to be of plays ?" 
 
 " Yes," Rachel answered, " I like to see 
 humanity as it is in the drama; not moving 
 calmly along, but climaxing into passion; 
 compressing the emotions of an existence 
 into a few scenes. I feel it all — I could act 
 it all. It is to me Uke distilling the very 
 wine of life into one draught, drinking it, and 
 dashing down the cup, — as I would !" 
 
 Ninian smiled. 
 
 " I talk oddly, I know," added Rachel, 
 slightly colouring. " I hope there is nothing 
 wrong in that? You see, I am so unac- 
 quainted with the world. When I enter it — 
 as I shall some time— do you think people will
 
 118 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 ridicule me ? In plain truth, Mr. Grasme, 
 what do you suppose will be said of me ?" 
 
 *' That you are a rather original but very 
 clever woman." He always encouraged her 
 to the utmost of his power, for her sensitive- 
 ness, as regarded every one's opinion, was 
 positively painful. "But tell me, Rachel," 
 said he, drawing his chair to the table, and 
 beginning one of the friendly chats in which 
 they were wont to indulge, " tell me what 
 you mean by entering the world ?" 
 
 She gave him a quick suspicious glance; 
 then smiling to herself, read a line out of the 
 Shakespeare that lay open at her hand : 
 
 When King Cophctua loved the beggar-maid. 
 
 " But you are not the beggar-maid — and, 
 supposing you were such, as yet — excuse me 
 — I see no symptoms of the approach of King 
 Cophetua." 
 
 Rachel laughed, nor could Ninian help 
 echoins: her. Both were the sort of cha- 
 racters in which an under-lying current of 
 humour makes the transition from tragedy
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 119 
 
 to comedy easy enough. After a few minutes 
 of bantering chat, Ninian tried to turn the 
 conversation to the subject which, even while 
 he jested, lay still heavy at his heart. And 
 when he looked at Rachel sitting opposite, 
 her face brightened with returning health, her 
 marvellous eyes shining out from under her 
 heavy hair — that would have driven a pain- 
 ter wild with its rich red-brown tint, like au- 
 tumn leaves — verily, Ninian ceased to marvel 
 at John Forsyth's frantic passion for this 
 woman. 
 
 "Are you qualifying yourself with these 
 for some grand role on the world's stage!" 
 said Ninian, glancing at her numerous books. 
 " Tell me honestly, Rachel, what did you 
 mean by the remark you made just now?" 
 
 " Merely that I suppose I shall not always 
 lead this quiet life with worthy Mrs. Forsyth. 
 In fact, 1 begin to weary of it already." 
 " And what do you mean to do ?" 
 " I — nothing ! I must only wait — wait !" 
 " Until there comes to you the usual lot 
 of woman — marriage ?" He said the word
 
 120 THE HEAD OF THE FAIiIILY. 
 
 distinctly, fixing on her his penetrating eyes. 
 Beneath them her colour came and went in 
 painful emotion. 
 
 " You are not kind, Mr. Grasme; you 
 want to force an answer from me; but you 
 will not, no ! as I told you before, you can- 
 not ! Think what you like — imagine what 
 you like — for I never yet told a lie, nor will 
 
 I, even for But you shall not get a 
 
 word out of me — not a word !" 
 
 " I have no desire, or if I had, no right. 
 But one right I have, that of friendship. I 
 came to talk with you about John Forsyth," 
 said Ninian, in his plain honest way. 
 
 "Ah!" — And Rachel looked sharply at. 
 Mr. Graeme, as if to see how much he knew. 
 He did not disguise from her that he knew 
 all. " So ! " she answered angrily, " my cou- 
 sin has told you of his folly, his egregious, 
 consummate folly ! How dared he dream of 
 such a thing — and more, how dared he speak 
 of it to me — to me who " 
 
 She stopped. Her eyes flashed, and her 
 right hand impetuously closed over the ring
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 121 
 
 she wore. Ninian saw the action, but con- 
 tinued as if he had noted it not. 
 
 " Rachel, I think you should not use the 
 harsh word 'dare.' What presumption is 
 there in any man offering his true honest 
 love to any woman? — that is^ if he deems 
 hers still free." Again his eyes met Ra- 
 chel's, and again she cowered before them, 
 but made no answer. " I do not mean to 
 blame you," Ninian went on. " It is not 
 your fault if you cannot accept John For- 
 syth ; though it is a sore, sad thing to wound 
 one so worthy as he. If done wantonly, a 
 cruel and a wicked thing. Love is love, and 
 we shall all find that out sometime or other, 
 I suppose." 
 
 Rachel leaned her brow upon her hand, 
 and the angry flush faded, " Ah — yes— that 
 is true," she sighed. " Well, what do you wish 
 to say to me ? Speak openly, Mr. Graeme ; 
 I always listen to, and honour you." 
 
 " I scarcely know how to say what I must 
 say," answered Ninian, who felt his quiet 
 heart stirred within him, and was strangely
 
 122 THE HEAD OF THE FAISIILY. 
 
 puzzled with the new part he had to play. 
 " For myself, I do not clearly enter into these 
 things. I have been foolish in ray time," he 
 added, as his brown cheek slightly blushed. 
 " I have courted my child-sweethearts, and 
 trembled in sight of my boyish loves, but 
 I never yet wooed my wife^ as John For- 
 syth woos you. It seems to me an awful 
 thing to feel as he does — as I saw him feel to- 
 day. You must not trifle with such a passion 
 — so intense — so absorbing. ' You cannot 
 even understand it." 
 
 " Cannot I ?" she said in a low voice. 
 "Well, goon! Poor John!" 
 
 " Do you not see how it tears and consumes 
 him in body and mind ? — how his whole life 
 seems dried up into one burning thought — 
 how for the time, he is false even to his holy 
 calling, and not even his vows to heaven 
 come before his love of you ? If this goes on 
 much longer, he will be ruined — utterly 
 ruined I" And Ninian, waxing earnest, spoke 
 with a power that surprised himself. 
 
 " What do you want me to do ?" said
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 123 
 
 Rachel, humbly, for her soul seemed shaken 
 within her. 
 
 " To love him, and marry him, if you can." 
 
 She leaped up as if stung. " Sir — Mr. 
 Gramme — this insult ! But I forget !" She 
 paced the room, vainly trying to grow calm. 
 Ninian, watching her, almost reproached him- 
 self with cruelty ; but the image of poor John 
 Forsyth came between and urged him on. 
 
 " And if ," said Rachel, stopping in 
 
 front of him, her face all one pallor, but 
 resolute and hard as stone — "if I answer, 
 that I will not marry him — that I cannot — 
 that there are reasons ■" 
 
 " Then, I implore you, give him those 
 reasons ! He has a right to know — every 
 man has, who risks his all upon one hope, and 
 loses it. See," he added, taking her hand with 
 a brotherly gentleness, yet solemn withal; 
 " see how openly I deal with you. I would 
 not try you so sorely; but I must save that 
 poor fellow, whose true heart is slowly break- 
 ing. Is there, indeed, no hope for him ?" 
 
 " I tell you," cried Rachel^ and her com-
 
 124 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 passion — for there had come a dawning com- 
 passion into her aspect — was thrilled with a 
 rapturous triumph — " I tell you, if I indeed 
 loved John Forsyth as he desires, I could 
 not — dared not marry him, or I should break 
 God's law^ and man's." 
 
 " Wherefore ?" 
 
 " I must not explain. He made me promise 
 that I would not. He said his worldly honour 
 depended on my keeping silence — that he 
 — oh, what am I saying !" 
 
 With great pity Ninian looked down upon 
 the young creature, struck by a sudden 
 agony. Was it of sorrow only, or also of 
 shame ? A terrible doubt entered his mind, 
 but he cast it from him. " You need not 
 fear me, Rachel,'* he said. " You are betray- 
 ing nothing that I have not suspected this 
 long time." 
 
 " Suspected — what is it you suspect ?" 
 
 " That what you said when you were ill 
 was true. That you are married." 
 
 " I am married !" and she rose up proudly. 
 " I will not deny it. I am married."
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 125 
 
 Still Nlnian's look of deep compassion 
 changed not. Rachel saw it. " Well, why 
 are you silent ? Had we not a right to keep 
 this secret, if we saw fit — I and — my hus- 
 band r 
 
 Oh, the pride, the passionate love with 
 which her lips gushed out that word ! Its 
 utterance seemed so divine a music, that all 
 the tumult in her breast grew stilled at once. 
 
 She sat down with an air of beautiful ma- 
 tronly repose. " Now, Mr. Grseme, you know 
 the truth. None but you, whom I honour 
 more than any man in the world, except 
 one — none but you should have won it from 
 me. 
 
 " Pardon me," said Ninian, struck by the 
 new dignity of her manner. " I meant not 
 to pry into your secrets, believe me, Mrs." — 
 Armstrong he was about to say, but paused, 
 and added, " Sabine." 
 
 " Hush, hush," cried Rachel, wildly. 
 " What have I done ! I have disobeyed 
 — betrayed him. Oh! ray husband — my 
 husband! He will never forgive me. He
 
 126 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 said he would not." Her aaritation became 
 insupportable; she paced the room, wringing 
 her hands, and bursting at times into broken 
 exclamations. 
 
 " I kept it so long — this heavy secret ! So 
 many deceptions I had to frame — I that never 
 deceived any one before ! But that deceit 
 was surely no sin ; or if it were — I think, nay, 
 I am almost sure" — her voice sank hoarsely 
 — " I should have done it for his sake. Yet 
 I have suffered so much ! He has need to 
 love me — indeed he has !" 
 
 " Take comfort, since he does indeed love 
 you," said Ninian, kindly, for his heart melted 
 towards the unhappy young creature — she was 
 unhappy, he saw, though she hid it bravely. 
 " And be sure that I have kept, and will 
 keep your secret silent evermore." 
 
 He stretched out his hand : Rachel grasped 
 it as the drowning grasp at a reed. " I will 
 trust you — I think he would. And perhaps 
 he would allow me, in this great strait — Oh, if 
 he did but know how sorely his wife suffers !" 
 
 " Then he does not know ? He has left
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 127 
 
 you — I mean, that you are parted from one 
 another ? — For a time only, I hope?" 
 
 " I will not have you questioning me," 
 Rachel cried, angrily. " And yet what a 
 poor wayward fool I am ! You know part ; 
 I ought, for my own honour's sake, to tell 
 you all — but then my husband! What am I 
 saying ! — as if anything I could tell might 
 shame him ! No, Mr. Graame, he is all good ; 
 there is no fault in him. It was only my 
 miserable low estate. By the time I have 
 made myself worthy of him, he will take me 
 home — I know he will!" 
 
 Ninian looked the inquiry he could not 
 help thinking, though he asked no more. 
 But something in his gentle, serene face, 
 said, " Trust me, and take comfort in me." 
 
 " I will trust you," once more said Rachel. 
 " I am not afraid of you, as I always was of 
 — him that is my husband. But then he 
 was like a god compared with me; in knov/- 
 ledge, in power, in beauty. I felt that from 
 the first moment I ever saw him. It was 
 just the story of Clytie and the Sun. Ah,
 
 128 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 he taught me that story — all things I ever 
 knew he taught me, or I learned them for 
 his sake." 
 
 " It is a strange tale," said Ninian, thought- 
 fully. " And you, so ignorant and so lowly, 
 to have raised yourself thus ! It seems al- 
 most impossible." 
 
 " How could it be impossible — when I 
 loved him ! Nay, not loved, that is too low 
 a word. It was adoration, as wild, as 
 daring, as hopeless as Clytie's for the Sun. 
 Until at last the Sun looking down from his 
 sphere, saw the flower which his beams had 
 wakened into life — saw it, loved it, lifted it 
 up unto his heart. And the poor flower 
 would have been content, even if his bright- 
 ness had scorched it to death — knowing; it 
 had lived one hour there. — You think I 
 am going mad again?" continued Rachel, 
 forciniT herself to mock herself; lauo-hinsr 
 aloud, while tears of passionate emotion 
 gemmed her eyes. 
 
 " No, I do not think so," answered Ninian, 
 simply. " But I wish you would tell me, in
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 129 
 
 plain words, the story of your marriage. If I 
 could do you any good by my advice, or 
 by my friendship, sincere as a brother's " 
 
 " Thank you," said Kachel, with much 
 feeling, " I never had a brother; I never 
 had any one in the world but him. There- 
 fore, when after long years of love, I knew 
 that I was loved too; when he took me to 
 his heart, and asked me to give him my- 
 self and all my unworthiness — what right 
 had I to say him nay ? All I was or 
 seemed to him of cjood, he had made me. 
 He did but claim his own." 
 
 " And so you were married ! How, and 
 where ?" was Ninian's blunt question. He 
 was rather puzzled by these excited speeches 
 of the poor girl, whose romantic imagina- 
 tions were so opposed to his plain common 
 sense. But the intense reality of passion 
 that lay at the depth of all her vagaries, 
 touched him in spite of himself. 
 
 There is no influence more soothing, more 
 controlling, more holy, than that which a 
 truly good man has over a woman, when from 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 both some strono^er emotion lias excluded 
 the possibihty of the tie between them being 
 ever more than a quiet, brotherly and sisterly 
 affection ; free from all constraint, yet min- 
 gled with a reverence, which through ha- 
 bitual intercourse is sometimes lost in the 
 real fraternal bond. This tie — quite different 
 from the " sentimental friendships" that often 
 work so much woe — is indeed true friend- 
 ship ; though softened, perhaps, and uncon- 
 sciously refined by the difference of sex, 
 which creates in the one power, in the other 
 submission ; as should be ever between man 
 and woman — the greater and the less. 
 
 Thus, when Ninian spoke, his calm mind 
 ruling Rachel's, impressed her with comfort 
 and trust. She sat dowm — she was going to 
 sit at his feet, but paused, remembering olden 
 days. No, she would not show that tender 
 humility to any man in the world but one. 
 So she placed herself opposite to Ninian, 
 saying, in a quiet, subdued w^ay, 
 
 " I cannot talk much; besides, it seems so 
 stranorc to talk of these thinsfs to anv one,
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 131 
 
 But I will answer what questions you please 
 to put." 
 
 " Well, then, tell me first, v/as anv one 
 present at your marriage?" 
 
 " No one." 
 
 " Was it before a minister?" 
 
 " It was not." 
 
 " Then I conclude it was one of those ir- 
 regular marriages which we in Scotland hold 
 legal. He acknowledged you as his wife be- 
 fore witnesses ?" 
 
 " No." 
 
 Ninian's start expressed distrust and fear. 
 Rachel crimsoned over face and neck. 
 
 " Do you insult me by hinting that — 
 
 that -" She stopped, as if unable to utter 
 
 such a possibility. 
 
 " I hint nothing, but I plainly ask what 
 form of marriage passed between you and this 
 gentleman ? Was it a true marriage, accord- 
 ing to the law of Scotland ?" 
 
 " It was ; I knew that, ignorant as I was ; 
 and if I had not known it, he said so, which 
 was enough," she answered proudly. 
 
 k2
 
 132 THE HEAD OF THE FARIILY. 
 
 Ninian looked anxious, as a man who knew 
 the world might well look and feel, seeing the 
 utter unsuspiciousness of this young creature. 
 " Kachel," he said, earnestly, " I wish you 
 would tell me the entire truth. I need not 
 add, that it shall never pass my lips. But 
 since by your own confession this marriage 
 must have been private, informal, and probably 
 open to doubt, it is right that some friend 
 should know the particulars, for your own 
 sake, and as a safeguard." 
 
 " A safeguard," she answered, contemptu- 
 ously. "A safeguard against //?'m.^ To place 
 you as a watch between me and my husband !" 
 
 " I contemplated no such position," said 
 Ninian, almost exasperated. " And since you 
 think me unworthy of any trust, I had better 
 leave you, Mrs. Sabine." 
 
 She looked alarmed. " How did you know 
 that name ?" 
 
 " You forget — you uttered it yourself once 
 in my hearing." 
 
 " I did, I did !" cried she, in much agita- 
 tion. " I have betrayed him — disobeyed him.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 133 
 
 It is no use concealing anything now. Oh, 
 if he knew this, would he ever forgive 
 me I" 
 
 " He would, were he an honest, honour- 
 able man." 
 
 " Do you dare to doubt it ? or to throw 
 a shadow of blame upon my Geoffrey ?" 
 
 " There is generally some blame when 
 a man contracts a secret and irregular mar- 
 riage," said Ninian, steadily. " Especially as 
 Mr. Geoffrey Sabine," — he pointedly repeated 
 the name, fixing it on his own memory like- 
 ■wise, — '• Mr. Geoffrey Sabine probably knew 
 more of the w^orld than did his wife." 
 
 " His wife. Yes ! I am his wife," cried 
 Rachel, restlessly. " He would not have 
 deceived me in anything. He could not, 
 when I so trusted him — when we were hand- 
 fasted over the Bible, and he took a solemn 
 oath to me, as I to him." 
 
 "Was that all?" said Ninian, in visible 
 
 anxietv. 
 
 Again tbe angry flush darkened Rachel's 
 brow. " I tell you," she cried, vehemently, 
 " we were married, solemnly and truly, in the
 
 134 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 way my father and mother, and many an- 
 other pair in our Border country, were mar- 
 ried ; by a written paper. Likewise, he put on 
 my finger my mother's guard-ring — here !" 
 
 " But the paper — what like was it ?" 
 
 " Word for word as my mother's was. 
 Now, Mr. Grceme, I will not be questioned, 
 nor will I answer any more." 
 
 " Word for word as your mother's was," 
 repeated Niniau, much relieved. " It was 
 then no doubt a written acknowledo^ment of 
 marriage, signed with the name of Geoffrey 
 Sabine ?" 
 
 Rachel made a slight assent with the head, 
 but her lips were resolutely closed. 
 
 " If so, it is certainly a valid marriage. 
 Still, it ought to be confirmed publicly, for 
 his own honour, and m.ore than all, for yours." 
 
 There was no answer; only Rachel crushed 
 her hands upon her breast, as if to keep down 
 the woman's pride that, for love's sake, en- 
 dured such sore humiliation, 
 
 " There is one question more I should like 
 to ask. How lonfT is this a^o ?" 
 
 Rachel maintained her obstinate silence.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 135 
 
 It tried Mr. Grceme's patience greatly, but 
 still he maintained his kindlv interest. 
 
 " Why should you keep up this reserve 
 with me ? Do I not already know almost all 
 this mystery ? Believe me, I have no motive 
 but the wish to serve, or, if not to serve, at 
 least to advise and comfort you." 
 
 There is something in a good man's voice, 
 attuned to wise and friendly sympathy, which 
 stirs every chord in a sorrowful heart. And 
 poor Rachel's had been so long dumb and 
 deaf to all confidence, shut up within itself, 
 bearing its pangs, its struggles alone. No- 
 thinof was heard or seen behind its closed 
 door, until Ninian came and touched the key. 
 
 She lifted her head, which had sunk drearily 
 between her hands, and looked him full in the 
 face. Now Ninian was, as before said, one of 
 those whom merely to look upon was to trust. 
 
 " I will tell you all," Rachel said at last. 
 " I think my husband would allow me, if he 
 knew you. And what is done, is done ! If 
 he will but forgive me," she added, sighing. 
 
 " He will — he ought. Now tell me," con-
 
 136 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 tinued Ninian, wishing to keep her to the 
 point gained, " how long have you been 
 married ?" 
 
 " A year or more. It was in the winter 
 time. He was very ill. He could not bear 
 our Scottish winters." 
 
 " He was not a Scotsman, then ?" 
 
 " JSTo. He had come a stranger to the 
 neighbourhood, and returned summer after 
 summer, lodging with an old woman — an 
 Englishwoman, named Jane Sedley." 
 
 " But — your marriage ?" 
 
 " Thus it happened. He had, as I said, a 
 long illness. I was half distracted. I would 
 have gone to him through flood and fire ; but 
 I was not his wife, and had no right. So, for 
 his honour and mine, that I mifjht nurse him 
 without any after-blame, he married me." 
 
 " In the way I concluded — by a written 
 acknowledgment ?" 
 
 She assented. "We dared not reveal it, 
 for reasons which he explained, and with 
 which I was satisfied. What matter? I 
 would have given him my life, had he asked
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 137 
 
 it ! I had little fear of detection — no one 
 minded my goings out or comings in. So, 
 all winter we kept our secret safe. Night 
 after night, when he lay ill, I stole away 
 while all were asleep, crossing the farm-yard 
 with bare feet — lest they should trace my 
 shoe-marks in the snow — walking miles across 
 the country, just to sit by his side for an 
 hour, and tend him, and comfort him. For I 
 was his wife : and I loved him — oh, Heaven ! 
 how I loved him !" 
 
 Her lips grew trembling and convulsed. 
 She made one violent struggle, and then 
 burst into a passion of tears. Ninian, awed 
 and touched by her emotion, walked aside 
 until the torrent had spent itself, and she was 
 again calm. Then he came, and gently took 
 her hand. 
 
 " Perhaps, Rachel — you will let me call 
 you Rachel still ? for it seems best in every 
 way — perhaps we ought to talk no more to- 
 day ?" 
 
 " We must, for after to-day I shall keep 
 silence. A few words will be enough. In
 
 138 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 the spring" my husband recovered ; we had 
 one month — two months of perfect wedded 
 happiness, meetin^^ continually." 
 
 " Some one knew of your meetings ? You 
 must have trusted some one." 
 
 "Jane Sedley knew. No one else. It 
 could not be," said Rachel, somewhat petu- 
 lantlv. " But those two months — how blessed 
 they were ! — until at last he was summoned 
 away." 
 
 " Who summoned him ?" 
 
 " I cannot tell. Some death or other hap- 
 pened. 1 never asked ; I knew nothing 
 about his relations — I only loved himself. 
 I only felt that he was gone, so suddenly 
 that he could not even bid me farewell." 
 
 " Did he not write ?" 
 
 " He never wrote to me; we agreed he 
 should not. It was not safe,, considering our 
 secret. He said so, and I was content. 
 Therefore, when he went, leaving me only a 
 message, everything in the world seemed 
 to go from me too. I had a fever first, and 
 afterwards — you know what I was."
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 139 
 
 " Poor soul," murmured Niniau, in great 
 compassion. 
 
 Her silence, and the painful consciousness 
 which made her shrink from saying " I was 
 mad," w^ere more piteous than any complaints. 
 
 She went on at last : " It is no use for me 
 to try to remember anything of that blank 
 time. Some fancy connected with you is the 
 first thing I recollect : your coming — your 
 kindness — or some words you said — but all is 
 confused still. I was ill afterwards, and 
 when I w^as recovering, Jane Sedley came 
 to see me, bringing me something." Her 
 eyes Ht with rapturous joy, and she drew 
 from her bosom a letter, or rather a mere 
 note, for there seemed in it only half a 
 dozen lines: "It is from my husband--my 
 own dear husband." 
 
 " I am glad," said Ninian— and his acute 
 legal perception made him really glad, for 
 more reasons than one, of this evidence to the 
 marriage, of which the husband seemed some- 
 what ashamed. "You must carefully keep this 
 letter ; it is additional proof."
 
 140 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 "Proof of what?" 
 
 " Of your marriage, in case your husband 
 disclaimed it," said Ninian, with some hesita- 
 tion. 
 
 " I am to doubt him, then ?" she cried, 
 indignantly. " I am to hold this letter — this 
 precious letter — the only one I ever had — 
 where I see written down that I am 'his 
 Rachel,' his ' own Rachel' — I am to keep this 
 as a threat against him — as a sign of distrust ? 
 Look then ! See what I can do to show how 
 firmly I believe in my husband." 
 
 She re-opened the letter — read it — devour- 
 ing every word with her eyes — kissed it pas- 
 sionately—then put it between the bars of 
 the grate, and saw the fire crackle round it, 
 crisp it, seize on it. Though she turned 
 pale, and shuddered as if it had been a livinff 
 thing in the flames — nay, even once put out 
 her hand to snatch it thence — yet she stood 
 still, and let it burn. When it was con- 
 sumed, and of her cherished treasure there 
 remained nothing but a few black airy frag-
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 141 
 
 ments stirring among the red ashes — she sank 
 down exhausted. 
 
 " I am sorry you have done this," said 
 Ninian GrcBrae, who, however, had been ef- 
 fectually restrained from interfering in the 
 doing of it. 
 
 " I that have done it ? It is you — only 
 you!" cried Rachel, in a burst of remorse. 
 " You have made me burn my husband's let- 
 ter — the dear letter — the kind letter ! Oh, 
 what a wretch am I ! And for you — 1 hate 
 you — I despise you — I " 
 
 " Rachel !" He met her with the calm look 
 with which an elder brother would meet a 
 passionate child. Very soon she became 
 humbled, and even composed. 
 
 " Forgive me, Mr. Greeme ; I know you 
 are kind and good, and wish " 
 
 " I wish only to aid in making you happy." 
 
 " No one can do that. It must rest with 
 my husband and his will. He is gone abroad 
 — I may explain thus much. His fortunes 
 are changed, he tells me ; and he cannot yet 
 acknowledge our marriage, or take me home.
 
 142 THE HEAD OF THE FAJVIILT. 
 
 Home !" she added, with a rapturous linger- 
 ing on the word. " To think that I shall one 
 day have a home with him ! For this I would 
 bear all things — even the silence which he 
 says must be between us until he comes." 
 
 " That is hard." 
 
 " No — for it is his will, and I am his wife. 
 I love him and obey him." 
 
 " God help thee, poor soul !" said Ninian, 
 in his heart. Never so clearly had he seen 
 what true love was. Not that he had ever 
 doubted its existence, but his youthful fancies 
 had melted away; and having been "in love" 
 and out of it — bov-fashion — half a dozen times, 
 he had ceased to believe in, or spcculaite about 
 such things. His mind, ever pure as it was 
 manly and brave, had engrossed itself with 
 other interests and duties, and other kinds of 
 aflPection, so that for years he had scarcely 
 thought of love at all. Now at last it crossed 
 his path ; showing itself as life's one great 
 reality; touching him not individually, but 
 still passing near him, until he was forced to 
 acknowledge it as a truth that was and might
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILr. 143 
 
 be. It made him thoughtful, not only for 
 others, but himself. 
 
 They kept a long silence — Ninian and 
 Rachel. At last the former broke it. " There 
 is one thinjx which we both seem almost to 
 have lost sight of. What shall I say to my 
 poor fHend ?" 
 
 " What friend ?" said Rachel, starting- from 
 a reverie. 
 
 " John Forsyth." 
 
 " I had forgotten his very existence. Why 
 bring back his name ? What signifies aught 
 of him ?" 
 
 " Rachel — that is not like you !" 
 
 "No; it is not like me," she said, mourn- 
 fully. '* Ah, but you know now how I suffer. 
 It is no wonder if I am bitter sometimes. 
 Forgive me ! Yes, we must think of poor 
 John. What can I do ? — what can I say ? 
 Help me — do help me. I have no counsellor 
 in the world but you — till my husband comes." 
 She always grew subdued, dignified, and calm, 
 the moment she uttered that name. 
 
 " I trust he will come soon ; it is right he
 
 144 THE HEAD OF THE EA^IILY. 
 
 should," Ninlan could not forbear saying. 
 " Meantime, I must save my friend's peace, 
 if possible." 
 
 "You will not tell him the truth? You 
 will not be so false as to make me still further 
 disobey my husband ?" 
 
 " I will not. But this I must tell Forsyth 
 — that he seeks one utterly beyond his hope, 
 since you belong to another. Whether by 
 troth or marriage, I need not say; and he will 
 not ask. If you had only told him this your- 
 self, or at least let him guess it " 
 
 "Was I, a wedded wife, even in thought 
 to anticipate another man's wooing ? I never 
 dreamed of such a wrong." 
 
 Ninian saw the view her excited fancy 
 took of the case, and argued no more. 
 
 "Remember, you have promised!" cried 
 Rachel, half-imploring, half-defying, as he 
 quitted her. 
 
 " I have promised. Be at rest !" His face 
 was the face of one who never uttered a 
 falsehood or broke a pledge. Rachel felt it, 
 and was satisfied.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 145 
 
 When Ninian reached The Gowans, there 
 was no one at home but little Hope Ansted, 
 sitting with a book by the parlour -fire. She 
 looked up, smiling from under her long curls. 
 
 " I have read it all throuo'h, as vou told 
 me; and I like it — oh! so much!" 
 
 There was about her at once a childish 
 simplicity and a Avomanly repose. It seemed 
 to Ninian like coming out of a stormy atmo- 
 sphere into one of peace and calm. He sat 
 down by her side, and talked to her about 
 the book she read, and other ordinary things, 
 for half an hour. He then rather unwillingly 
 departed, to fulfil his painful mission to John 
 Forsvth. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 146 THE HEx\D or THE FAMILY. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 " It is a sad thing about John Forsyth," said 
 kind Lindsay Grjeme, as she saw her brother 
 sitting over the fire in a brown study. " You 
 were thinking of him, were you not?" 
 
 " Partly. His mother has got him safe 
 home to the manse, she writes me. Poor 
 fellow ! He will recover there. It would 
 have been melancholy had he died." 
 
 " One at least would have suffered, and 
 rightly," said Lindsay, with some bitterness, 
 for her heart had always yearned over John 
 Forsyth since the time when he had been a 
 boyish favourite with one she loved. " You 
 never told me what had happened, brother, 
 but I guessed it all." 
 
 " All ?" Ninian looked alarmed, until
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 147 
 
 he recollected liow impossible it was that 
 Lindsay should know more than what Mrs. 
 Forsyth had, in her loquacious sorrow, be- 
 trayed to all the family — namely, Rachel 
 Armstrong's extraordinary mental delusions, 
 and the folly of poor John, who on his cou- 
 sin's recovery had wished to marry her. 
 
 " It was a bitter thing for him, and I 
 think Rachel acted wrone," continued Miss 
 Gramme. 
 
 "We should not judge," said Ninian, briefly, 
 as, evidently wishing to end the conversation, 
 he turned again to his occupation of looking 
 over Hope Ansted's exercise-book. He had 
 taught her daily with his sisters for a long 
 time now. 
 
 Lindsay cast more than one doubtful 
 glance upon her brother, as if his short 
 answer about Rachel Armstrong had struck 
 her with a faint suspicion — a sisterly weak- 
 ness, which all sisters have. After awhile, 
 she said, 
 
 " I was pondering, Ninian, how happy 
 we all are together here. Even you seem 
 
 l2
 
 148 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 merrier tlian you used to be. Only think of 
 Our Brother dancing as he did last week, 
 and as I suppose he will again to-night." 
 
 " He cannot well help it," answered Ninian, 
 smiling. '• You know it is Hope's birthday, 
 and we agreed to keep it just the same as 
 those of the other children." 
 
 " She is, indeed, become one of the 
 children. I never saw a sfirl so chano-ed. 
 She seems content with us too, though she 
 cannot help feeling her father's cruel neglect. 
 But I am sure she is no burden upon us, 
 bless her !" 
 
 Here Ninian — walking across the room to 
 the next — stopped on his way to lean over 
 his sister affectionately, and tell her she was 
 the kindest creature in the world to every 
 one. 
 
 " Even to Rachel Armstrong?" 
 " Why do you speak of her ? I know you 
 two could never sympathise much ; you are 
 such opposite characters. Still, Lindsay, you 
 must always be kind to her — as indeed you 
 arc," said Ninian, as he quitted the room.
 
 THE HEAD OE THE FAMILY. 149 
 
 He was soon seen wandering about the 
 garden — his especial hol3by, cultivated by 
 himself, until it had become the pride of The 
 Gowans. All the four girls were haunting 
 him, as usual ; never was there such a po- 
 pular elder brother. Their attentions, how- 
 ever, might not now have been quite disin- 
 terested, for they re-entered the room laden 
 with a quantity of Ninian's beloved roses, to 
 gather every one of which, as he jestingly 
 told them, was like plucking a piece out of 
 his heart. 
 
 " Especially the yellow ones. I did not 
 think you ever would have gained that 
 beauty you so wished for, Hope," cried 
 Tinie. " But you and I can coax anything 
 out of brother Ninian, when we get him in 
 a generous mood." 
 
 "Ah, you are heartless lassies, both." 
 And Ninian shook his head at Hope, who 
 stood before the glass, fixing the rose in 
 her hair. She made a pretty picture, and 
 he looked at her until his aspect became 
 grave. 
 
 '• You are not angry, or sorry about the
 
 150 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 rose," said Hope, noticing liim. " If you are, 
 do let me take it back again to the green- 
 house. It will keep some time in water, you 
 know." And with a gentle subraissiveness 
 she put it in his hand. 
 
 "Foolish child: — what a tyrant you ima- 
 gine me to be," said Ninian, laughing. " You 
 are not afraid of me now, surely ?" 
 
 " No, indeed, Mr. Gramme." Hope looked 
 up with a frank affection. And — she had 
 such lovely eyes ! 
 
 "Don't give her the rose again," interposed 
 Euth, gravely. " A yellow rose means sorrow. 
 You would not give her that ?" 
 
 " Heaven forbid!" said Ninian, so earnestly 
 that Hope once more lifted up her fair eye- 
 lids in some surprise. " Nay, I will compro- 
 mise the matter." He went out, and brought 
 in from his little green-house its one white 
 rose — his pet 'Duchess of Sutherland' — 
 saying affectionately, "Now, will our dear 
 Hope accept this, with many happy returns 
 of the day ?" 
 
 Hope thanked him, and resignedly parted 
 with her yellow rose.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 151 
 
 " You have forgotten one thing when you 
 wished her 'many happy returns/" cried 
 Tinie, mischievously. " Something that we 
 all get from brother Ninian on our birthdays, 
 thouo;li he looks as if he were a terrible 
 martvr all the while. But if he will not srive 
 it, I would take it, Hope, were I you. You 
 little know how nice it is." 
 
 At this last sotto voce remark, Hope began 
 to blush, as a girl of her age was sure to do. 
 So did Ninian, a circumstance not quite so 
 likely. But he acted up to his duty ; he ap- 
 proached his ward and gravely kissed her 
 forehead. Then, after a few minutes' more 
 chatter among his sisters, he took up his 
 books and retired to his own room. 
 
 There, despite what Lindsay said of his 
 cheerfulness, the elder brother often passed 
 many a thoughtful hour. Worldly cares fre- 
 quently weighed upon him ; and something he 
 suffered from his kindly sympathies for others, 
 especially for John Forsyth and Rachel. No 
 little trouble, too, he had from those wild 
 boys, Hope Ansted's brothers, who, after tor- 
 mentiuG^ his life out for a season in Edin-
 
 152 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 burgh, were at last despatched to their 
 London school. Yet he had borne with 
 them patiently ; for, rude as they were, their 
 sister seemed to love them. The first time 
 any real feeling had been seen to burst 
 through the frigid decorum of her education, 
 was when she bade good-by to Willie and 
 Bob. Her cjuardian had liked her better from 
 that moment. He sat thinking of this now, 
 moralising concerning the evil of such a 
 bringing up, and speculating rather anxiously 
 concerning the future of this girl, so curiously 
 thrown upon his hands. She was not a 
 child, though her manners were very child- 
 like : she could not be sent to school again. 
 Her father had mentioned, in his rough way, 
 " that Hope must turn governess." But 
 Ninian trembled to send out into the hard 
 world a creature so simple — even to igno- 
 rance, and so very pretty. Of late, pursuing 
 this train of thoughts, he had begun to con- 
 sider the latter fact, and he could not deny its 
 truth. She was certainly prettier than the 
 twins — prettier even than his pet Tinie. 
 There came into Ninian's mind the foolish
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 153 
 
 thought for which he had reproved his 
 sisters — viz., the possibiHty of Edmund's 
 falhug in love with her. But Edmund was 
 occupied with his college studies, and all his 
 spare time he passed at Musselburgh with 
 his friend Mrs. Armstrono;. Ninian was ra- 
 ther glad it was so ; he really should not 
 have liked the love-epidemic to have entered 
 his peaceful household. Plenty of time for 
 that, years hence! 
 
 He had dismissed these contemplations 
 as idle, and w\as just setting to work, when 
 he heard a timid knock at his study-door, 
 and Hope Ansted stole in. She always 
 seemed to steal or glide about everywhere, 
 she was such a very quiet girl. 
 
 " Tinie sent me for a book, if you will ex- 
 cuse me." 
 
 " Oh, yes. But she should have come her- 
 self, the lazy little thing. Why did she 
 not?" 
 
 " She said — shall I tell the exact truth, 
 as you have always taught me to do ?" 
 
 " Certainly, my dear child."
 
 154 THE HEAD OF THE FAlVnLY. 
 
 "That, if I interrupted you, you would not 
 scold me, because I was a stranger and not 
 your sister." 
 
 " Not my sister in truth, but I trust no 
 strancrer," said Ninian, as he a^ain bent over 
 his book. 
 
 Hope looked over the shelves for the 
 volume she wanted, but, when found, she 
 lingered some time, turning over its pages, 
 and then glancing timidly at her guardian. 
 At last she came to his table. 
 
 " You have many letters there, Mr. 
 Graeme ? Is there one from my father ? I 
 thought — he might have written to me to- 
 day." 
 
 There was a pained accent in her voice 
 which touched Ninian ; the more so, as she 
 was rarely demonstrative in any way. 
 
 " I have no letter for you, Hope ; but it 
 may come by the next American mail. Per- 
 haps, since you know your father has many 
 cares, he has accidentally overlooked your 
 birthday. Do not be unhappy, though : it 
 has been remembered, you see."
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 155 
 
 I 
 
 " Yes, you are all very kind to me." She 
 turned to go away, but turned back, and 
 said, with a strong effort, " Mr. Gra3me, I 
 heard this morning, for the first time, some- 
 thing about you and my father." Her voice 
 became almost inaudible, and her cheeks 
 glowed painfully; she was evidently allud- 
 ing to the bankruptcy and Ninian's generous 
 forbearance. " It makes me ashamed to 
 live here and receive such kindness from 
 you. I wish" — here she fairly seemed in- 
 clined to cry — " I wish you would let me 
 go away." 
 
 Ninian was quite confounded. In the first 
 place, he never suspected her of such strong 
 feelings; in the second, he had an instinc- 
 tive masculine horror of a girl's tears ; in the 
 third, the idea of Hope Ansted's going away 
 presented itself more unpleasantly than he 
 had been at all conscious of until now. 
 
 " Are you tired of us, my dear ?" 
 
 " Tired ! I am happier here than I ever 
 was in my life. I love you all, dearly — 
 dearly — bu t ' '
 
 156 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 " ' But' is a disagreeable little elf— espe- 
 cially on birthdays. Suppose we put him 
 out of the question altogether," said Ninian, 
 cheerfully. " And don't imagine we shall 
 let you run away from us, my dear little 
 girl." 
 
 " Little girl !" Hope repeated, half-dis- 
 posed to smile. " Why, I am eighteen to- 
 day." 
 
 " And I was thirty-one last month ; so 
 you are still a little girl compared with me. 
 Come, don't think of anything sad. Go 
 back to my sisters, and try and feel as if 
 you were really one of the lassies of The 
 Gowans." 
 
 " I Avish I were ! But then Willie, and 
 Bob, and my father — ah! I thought my 
 father would have written." And again the 
 fair eyelids grew heavy with sorrow. 
 
 Ninian could not bear to see it. " My 
 dear Hope," said he, " we cannot alter 
 our "fortunes; we must only draw from 
 them what sweetness we may. Bear yours 
 patiently, and do not grieve. Think how
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 157 
 
 mucli my sisters love you — just as if you 
 were their own. And for me" — lie paused 
 — " while your own father is away, you 
 must always try to consider me a father, an 
 elder brother, or — what you like." 
 
 " I will," said Hope, timidly stretching 
 out her two hands. She looked so sweet, 
 innocent, and loveable — her face yet pale — 
 the tears on her eyelids scarce dried — that, 
 whether from the paternal spirit dawning in 
 him, or from a sense of paternal duty, the 
 grave Ninian once more stooped and kissed 
 her. She did not seem at all surprised; 
 thanking him affectionately, she took up 
 Tinie's book and disappeared with her 
 light, soft, gliding step. 
 
 But Ninian, standing where she left him, 
 was conscious of a strange pleasure — a light- 
 ness that made everything bright. It was 
 the happiness of doing good, of making 
 others happy, he thought; though without 
 self-glorying, for Ninian Gramme was the 
 humblest man alive. Still it was pleasant — 
 he could not deny it — to see this young
 
 158 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 mind and simple heart expand like a flower, 
 and to know that his patient influence had 
 effected all; that, but for him, this young 
 life, now growing up so fresh and beautiful, 
 might have withered in darkness. 
 
 " No wonder I like the child," said he to 
 himself, half ashamed of the act of affection 
 which had given conclusive evidence of the 
 fact. " She is to me as the plants that I rear 
 in my garden. That poor rose-tree, for in- 
 stance, which I found growing so wild and 
 unsightly, and grafted it, and made it the 
 best rose on the lawn — I like it best of all. 
 It is my Hope Ansted." 
 
 Smiling to himself at this conceit, Ninian 
 put aside his books, and joined the rest of 
 the family. 
 
 The parlour at The Gowans looked quite 
 festive. It foreboded that terrible event, 
 " a party ;" at least as near an approach to 
 one as the girls dared venture upon without 
 offending Ninian's known antipathy to such 
 things. However, he came in smiling blandly, 
 admired the flower-arranged room, and even
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 159 
 
 extended his approbation to the attire of 
 his sisters. They were indeed a pretty 
 girhsh group, in their white dresses, all 
 alike. The twins looked sonsie, fresh, and 
 fair; Tinie perfectly bewitching, with the 
 crimson fuschias drooping among her black 
 
 hair; and Hope Ansted 
 
 She was helping Lindsay at the tea-table ; 
 there was ever a great bond of amity be- 
 tween her and Our Sister. Demurely she sat, 
 entrenched behind the urn, until a slant even- 
 ing sunbeam found her out, brightening first 
 her brown curls, and then the one rose — 
 the precious "Duchess of Sutherland" — that, 
 fastened in her hig-h dress, nestled ascainst 
 her throat. Not an " alabaster" throat, as 
 poets will persist in asserting ; but one of fair, 
 pink, healthy hue, against which the white 
 rose-leaves contrasted well. Lindsay seemed 
 quite proud of her favourite, and even se- 
 cretly pointed out to Ninian how beautiful 
 Hope looked to-night ! He saw her beauty 
 likewise — saw it as he had never seen it 
 before.
 
 160 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 " She appears more of a woman in that 
 dress," he observed. 
 
 " Of course she does," answered Miss 
 Gra3me; " she is eighteen. Our mother was 
 a wife at eighteen; but Hope is such a child- 
 like creature still." 
 
 " Yes," said Ninian. Nevertheless looking 
 on the brow, which he fancied wore a deeper 
 thought than ordinary — the brow he had 
 kissed twice that day — he became silent and 
 crave. 
 
 Never was there such a nisjht as that night! 
 Half a dozens guests added to the Graeme 
 family made up a goodly gathering. 
 
 " You know we never invited them; we 
 only told them they might come if they 
 liked," whispered Tinie, in comical apology 
 to her elder brother for the unparalleled 
 numbers. But Ninian did not stand ao;hast 
 as she expected; he even condescended to 
 put off the slight shyness he generally wore 
 in society, and to be as merry as he ahvays 
 was with his family at home. 
 
 "We'll get him to dance — 3^ou shall go
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 161 
 
 and ask liim," said Tinie to Hope. (Miss 
 Tinie kept floating and flashing hither and 
 thither just lil^e an omnipresent sunbeam.) 
 " There — go up to him — compel him ! It's 
 your right, ' you httle birthday girl,' as we 
 used to call one another when we were 
 children." 
 
 And when Hope came up with her eyes 
 cast down, in a half-demure, half-playful 
 curtsey, Ninian fairly yielded, and was led 
 off in triumph. They had a most eccentric 
 quadrille, though; for he was, as Tinie ob- 
 served, " a dear, old, stupid, good-for-nothing 
 donkey," and her own partner. Professor 
 Keay, a long-limbed, solemn-browed fol- 
 lower of the sciences, was not much better. 
 
 "You ought to be ashamed of yourself, 
 Tinie," said Reuben, who, like most younger 
 brothers, was self-constituted censor-in-gene- 
 ral. " How can you force the Professor to 
 make himself so ridiculous ! He that was 
 your father's friend and your brother's 
 teacher, and ay ore his college gown when you 
 were in your long-clothes." 
 
 VOL. L M
 
 162 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 " What a Methuselah he must be ! I 
 wonder if he is grey yet. I'll go and see." 
 
 " The age of this fossil formation," Dr. 
 Reay was saying, in his conversation with 
 Ninian, " cannot be distinctly ascertained. 
 But" — here he paused to shake his head, 
 as if a fly had settled on his hair — " but pro- 
 bably we should have to go back to the an- 
 tediluvian period." 
 
 " I think we should," whispered Tinie be- 
 hind the professor's chair. She had loved 
 to play him tricks ever since he was a great, 
 awkward, learned youth — elderly even in 
 boyhood, and she a tiny child on his knee. 
 
 " What were you remarking. Miss Chris- 
 tina ?" asked he, turning quickly at the sound 
 of her merry voice, while a comical satisfac- 
 tion diffused itself over his face. But the 
 little fairy had disappeared in will-o'-the- 
 wisp fashion, and the poor Professor plunged 
 once more into his f]!;eolo2:ical boix. 
 
 He was only drawn from thence to be 
 blindfolded, and made the hero of that im- 
 mortal game — the delight of little children
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 163 
 
 and great ones — from which, too, those 
 solemn folk Avho have ceased to be either 
 may extract a wholesome moral: for is not 
 life one long game at blindman's buff? 
 
 "They are a happy set, are they not?" 
 said Ninian, coming to Our Sister, who sat 
 apart to guard from any accident Edmund's 
 little plaster treasures, " Undine" and " Doro- 
 thea." 
 
 " Very happy. It is quite a treat to see 
 tkem." And that she spoke the truth was 
 evident in her face of cheerful serenity — the 
 serenity of conquered sorrow. We cannot — 
 will not believe this in our untried youth, 
 when death itself seems preferable to the 
 thouo-ht of a healed wound. But as wound 
 after wound opens, and still life lingers 
 and must linger, — for it takes a long time 
 to die of a broken heart, — then we learn at 
 last to thank God for the balm that allays its 
 torture, for the slow years that scar over its 
 rankling sore. Little sweetnesses spring up 
 in our path; strong, necessary, wholesome 
 duties come like servants to uphold our 
 
 m2
 
 164 THE HEAD OF THE FA^IILY. 
 
 staggering feet, and we gird our draperies in 
 such manner that they may fall over and 
 hide the grievous wound ; marching on so 
 cheerily and well that some closest friends 
 would hardly believe it was there at all, 
 until we lie before them in our death-clothes. 
 And it is no matter then ! 
 
 So Lindsay Grasme sat and watched " the 
 children" play, sometimes playing with them, 
 especially when Hope Ansted asked her. 
 She seemed better than any one to under- 
 stand this young girl. And Hope, from some 
 cause or other, appeared on this night to 
 have cast off her usual constraint. If Tinie 
 were the sunshine, slie was certainly the 
 clear, pure cloudland of the family atmo- 
 sphere ; colourless itself, but ready to receive 
 all sympathetic tints, dark or bright. 
 
 " There's a head for you to study," said 
 Mr. Graeme aside to Professor ^Reay. He 
 pointed out Hope, as she sat holding in her 
 arms Ninian's pet cat, whom she was be- 
 nevolently trying to soothe in recompense 
 for this terrific invasion of the quiet parlour.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 165 
 
 "Conscientiousness, good; range of do- 
 mestic affections, ditto, especially philopro- 
 genitiveness. Intellectual organs " 
 
 " Not very remarkable, as I see myself," 
 interrupted Ninian ; " yet, I assure you, I find 
 far less trouble in teaching lier than Tinie." 
 
 " All ! a wonderful steady head has Miss 
 Christina; but she makes no use of it," sighed 
 the Professor. His keen grey eyes wore a 
 dove-like softness as he followed the motions 
 of the wilful girl, who was waltzing with Ed- 
 mund to a deo;ree that rendered his commen- 
 dation quite true, though in a different sense 
 to what he meant. 
 
 " No fear; she will grow sedate in time,'* 
 said the loving brother, on whom a word in 
 Tinie's dispraise ever jarred unpleasantly. 
 " I assure you, she takes fits of study as deep 
 as if she were going to be a Professor in petti- 
 coats. She sometimes threatens she will sur- 
 pass even you — a sage philosopher, almost 
 twice her age." 
 
 " Ay, twice her age — I know that." And 
 the gaunt Professor, with a slight heaving of 
 his broad chest, lounged back again to the
 
 166 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 study. There lie sank up to the ears in a 
 large folio, and was missing for an hour 
 after. 
 
 In the midst of the frolic — which after 
 Doctor Reay's secession increased more and 
 more— a messas^e came that Mr. Grasme was 
 wanted. Ninian went somewhat reluctantly, 
 for he was in the midst of a merry game at 
 forfeits, wherein he had forgotten that there 
 was such a thing as business in the world. 
 He started to see in the hall Rachel Arm- 
 strong. 
 
 " Well, Mr. Gra3me, I am here, you see." 
 "Nay, why did joii not come sooner? 
 You know we asked you." 
 
 " Yes, yes ; but I am so restless, I cannot 
 be quiet anywhere ; so my evil genius drove 
 me out, though it is a pleasant night, too. 
 Look !" And she held up her shawl, drip- 
 ping with heavy thunder-rain. 
 
 " And so late, too. Were you not afraid?" 
 
 " I never yet was afraid of anything," said 
 
 Rachel, coldly. " Besides, I wanted to talk 
 
 to you. Nay, let me come in quietly; don't 
 
 disturb the girls."
 
 THE HEAD OF THE EAMILY. 167 
 
 Ninian certainly was a general martyr. 
 He lured the Professor- adroitly out of the 
 study, and brought Rachel in there; with one 
 rather wistful gaze he shut the door upon the 
 merriment without, and sat down patiently 
 to listen unto what she had to unfold. 
 
 " Have you heard from Mrs. Forsyth ?" 
 she asked abruptly. 
 
 " I have." 
 
 " And how is that poor soul who loved 
 me so well?" The latter words came out 
 bitterly — mournfully. 
 
 " He is better : I hope he will recover in 
 time," said Ninian, gravely. " Why do you 
 ask ?" 
 
 " Because one sorrowful heart can learn 
 to feel for another. Nay, not quite that." 
 And she corrected herself " Understand 
 me, Mr. Greeme; I do not mean that I am 
 unhappy, or have cause for unhappiness, but 
 this state of suspense is hard to bear." 
 
 " Very hard." 
 
 " I am young in deceit. I cannot even 
 hide my feelings as I ought. I never could 
 before those whom I cared for at aU. And
 
 168 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 when that poor woman sobbed on my neck, 
 and forgot all her prejudices against me, 
 beseeching me to make her son happy — 
 oh ! it was a hard trial." 
 
 Ninian did not reply. There was no pos- 
 sible consolation to offer, and advice he had 
 hitherto given in vain. 
 
 " I can bear it no longer. If I had kept 
 silence for any cause, or any will but that 
 which is my law, I should almost despise 
 myself. Now at last I have done as you 
 counselled — I have written to Geoffrey." 
 
 " Did you know where to write ?" asked 
 Ninian, in some surprise. 
 
 " I imagine my husband would not so 
 neglect his wife as your question implies," 
 she answered, haughtily. "He is abroad. 
 Our correspondence is dangerous — almost 
 impossible, he said, but he will send at 
 intervals to Jane Sedley I'or tidings of me. 
 There my letter will be found. It explains 
 all. I must tell him the truth: God forbid 
 I should deceive him too." And bitterly 
 poor Rachel sighed. 
 
 " Did you mention me ?"
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 169 
 
 " Not by name; lie charged me never to 
 mention names. I told him the position in 
 which I was placed, and how you, a friend 
 — I merely said ' a friend' — had accidentally 
 discovered the truth, which I thought it 
 shame to deny. I entreated him to let me 
 follow your advice, and confess all to my cou- 
 sin, if to no one else. Do you think," added 
 she, turning to Ninian^ with the pitiable, 
 helpless doubt which sometimes came over 
 her — " do you think I did right, and that he 
 will forgive me ?" 
 
 " You have done right, and a good and 
 kind husband would see no need for pardon, 
 no error, — on your side at least," said Ninian, 
 steadily. 
 
 Eachel's anger rose a moment, as it ever 
 did at the faintest shadow cast on him 
 whom she thus madly worshipped. Poor 
 soul ! in her heart, so young still, was trem- 
 bling that warning which, once unheeded, 
 has afterwards pealed knell-like through 
 many a heavy lifetime — " Little children, 
 keep yourselves from idols !"
 
 170 THE HEAD OF THE TAIkllLY. 
 
 " I know you mean me kindly, Mr. 
 Grifime, but you must not speak thus, even 
 in hints. Nor is it generous of you, when 
 my secret is in your hands — when I come to 
 you, as now, for advice, help, comfort." 
 
 " Rachel !" Deep, manly, and tender 
 withal, was the compassion in Ninian's 
 eyes. 
 
 " I believe you — I trust you ; if you had 
 been born my brother, I could not trust you 
 more. God bless you, and reward you! 
 And, whatever becomes of me " 
 
 Her voice faltered, ceased. She started 
 up with an impatient gesture, as if contemn- 
 ing herself. 
 
 " Come, I want some amusement — excite- 
 ment. Let me go and play among the girls, 
 if they will have me." 
 
 She left the room ; and Ninian, after some 
 sad ponderings over the lot which always 
 seemed to involve him in the strangest pas- 
 sages of human fate, re-entered, and found 
 her the centre of a delighted group. " She 
 could be so agreeable when she liked," as
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 171 
 
 Tinie observed ; but she rarely condescende/i 
 to notice any one save Edmund. However, 
 to-night she was apparently in her gayest 
 mood — had joined in their new game of 
 acted charades, and was animating them 
 with such life, that the performances of 
 Tinie and Edmund in particular became 
 positive histrionic studies. 
 
 They had chosen the easy word " False- 
 hood," and after creditably indicating the 
 two syllables, were at their wits' end for a 
 delineation of the complete word. 
 
 " Couldn't we do a real scene out of a 
 play ? Mrs. Armstrong reads plays so beau- 
 tifully, I am sure she could act one," said 
 her faithful and devoted young squire, Ed- 
 mund. 
 
 Rachel assented at once. There seemed 
 a waywardness about her that took refuge 
 in any excitement. 
 
 " Come, Geoffrey, we will do what we 
 read together the other day in Milman's 
 play. I will be Bianca, and you shall do 
 Fazio. It is but a few words ; do you re- 
 member them ?"
 
 172 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 Edmund did; but the lines very_ nearly 
 went out of liis head, when Rachel ad- 
 vanced to him witli true tragedy-aspect: 
 
 " Fazio, thou hast seen Aldabella ?" 
 
 And Bianca was obliged to prompt her 
 lord's answer: 
 
 " Well, 
 She is no basilisk — there's no death in her eyes." 
 
 There was a feint titter ; but it was quelled 
 by the next tone of Rachel's voice, so low, so 
 deep; full of that passion wherein the true ac- 
 tress mimics life, in a manner that we often- 
 times call unreal, because not one in a thou- 
 sand ever sees or feels that climax of emotion 
 out of which tragedy is evolved: 
 
 " Ay, Fazio, but there is ; and more than death ; 
 
 A death beyond the grave — a death of sin — 
 
 A howling, hideous, and eternal death — 
 
 Death the flesh shrinks from. No, thou must not see her. 
 
 Nay, I'm imperative — thou'rt mine, and shalt not." 
 
 Here, astounded by her looks and ges- 
 tures, poor young Fazio quite forgot his part. 
 Rachel paused a moment, and then, as if the 
 impulse upon her were too strong to resist, 
 she broke out into a speech following, when 
 Bianca^ stung by her husband's taunts, con- 
 tinues:
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 173 
 
 " Take heed — we are passionate. Our milk of love 
 
 Doth turn to wormwood, and that's bitter drinkinfif. . . . 
 
 If that ye cast us to the winds, the winds 
 
 Will give us their unruly, restless nature ; 
 
 We whirl, and whirl ; and where we settle, Fazio, 
 
 But He who ruleth the mad winds can know. 
 
 If ye do drive the love out of my soul, 
 
 That is its motion, being, and its life, 
 
 There'll be a conflict strange and horrible 
 
 Among all fearful and ill-visaged fiends 
 
 For the blank void ; and their mad revel there 
 
 Will make me — oh ! I know not what — hate thee !" 
 
 " Heavens and earth !" cried worthy, sim- 
 ple-souled, Professor Reay, using his sole 
 adjuration, which might be a fond memento 
 of his two favourite sciences, astronomy and 
 geology — " Heavens and earth ! Miss O'Neil 
 herself was never finer !" 
 
 Now they all knew, that if there ever had 
 been a bit of romance in the Professor's life, 
 it was a boyish passion for Miss O'lSTeil — a 
 theatrical adoration, that in its wildest mo- 
 ments never approached nearer to its object 
 than the second row of the pit of Edinburgh 
 Theatre. But it invested his opinion even 
 now with a sort of importance, which made 
 all eyes turn curiously to Rachel Arm- 
 strong^.
 
 174 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 Slie, when her Ups closed over the last 
 words, had leant, white as marble, agamst 
 the wall. But there was a power and gran- 
 deur about her whole aspect still. The 
 afflatus of genius had been felt by her, and 
 seen in her. It was somethinoj like the 
 dawning of a destiny. 
 
 " What did you think of Mrs. Arm- 
 strong ?" said Lindsay, Avhen, all strangers 
 dispersed, and some of the family likewise, 
 she and Niuian, Tinie and Hope, stood to- 
 gether in the darkened room. " It was per- 
 fectly astouishincf. I would not wonder if, 
 some day " 
 
 " Hush !" said Ninian. He, more than 
 any, had been startled — overwhelmed ; not, 
 like the rest, by one thought, but many. 
 They had only admired the glitter, beauti- 
 ful yet awful, of the flames ; he had seen 
 the volcano beneath. 
 
 " How did you feel, Hope, my dear?" 
 said Miss Grasme, after Tinie had exhausted 
 her raptures. " Did you admire Mrs. Arm- 
 stronsj ?"
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 175 
 
 " She frightened me," whispered Hope. 
 " I never saw anything like it before. I 
 thought to myself, ' What a fearful thing to 
 be hated by such a woman!' Her very 
 look would kill me." • 
 
 " Poor wee bird!" said Lindsay, caressing 
 the head which leaned against her. Ninian, 
 too, turned round, half-smiling, to address a 
 few consolinsj words to the " foolisli little 
 creature," who looked quite pale with ex- 
 citement. 
 
 It was strange that, with all his sympathy, 
 warm and true, for Rachel, his consciousness 
 of the critical position in which she stood, 
 and his admiration for her marvellous 
 powers, the last thing he thought of was 
 the delicate, child-like profile he had seen 
 resting against Lindsay's breast.
 
 176 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 There come at times in our life deep, 
 still pauses; when we rest upon our full 
 content, as a child lies down on the grass 
 of a meadow, fearing nothing, desiring no- 
 thing, ceasing almost to think, and satisfied 
 only to feel. One of these pauses was upon 
 Niniau Gra3me. For weeks after that merry 
 birthday-night, there seemed in him a 
 charmed serenity which diffused itself over 
 the whole circle at The Gowans, sooth- 
 ing all their little jarrings — for they had 
 jarrings at times — what large family has 
 not ? The storm of rancorous wits ceased 
 to fall upon poet Edmund's devoted head ; 
 Reuben and Charlie forgot to jangle; and the
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 177 
 
 twins no lono-er sat aloof, in their sober o;ood 
 sense, scorning Tinie's harmless vagaries. 
 Tinie herself, who, from a vague jealousy, 
 had once disliked and even ridiculed Hope 
 Ansted, now struck up with her such a 
 close amity, that Ninian christened them 
 " Helena and Hermia." Edmund had even 
 condescended to address a sonnet to them, 
 as "the Red and the "White Eose;" but 
 there his admiration terminated. When 
 once there was a vague revival of Tinie's 
 jest respecting his probable love-enthral- 
 ment, the boy indignantly scouted the idea 
 of being captivated by " such a baby." 
 
 Besides, he was saved from becoming an- 
 other example of the truth of Dr. Johnson's 
 remark, "that many think themselves in love, 
 when, in fact, they are only idle," by being 
 at this time engrossed in studies which had 
 now a new aim. One of those wild projects 
 which trouble youth — nightmare fancies of 
 honour and fame, often born of mere vague 
 <:ravings after change — had visited Edmund 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 178 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 Greeme ; and, created by Rachel Armstrong's 
 praise of everything English, had shaped itself 
 into one intense desire. The dream of the 
 boy's existence was to go to London. 
 
 Ninian first heard this one quiet Sunday 
 evening, when they two were alone. Lindsay 
 had gone to bed, slightly complaining of ill- 
 ness — she was always delicate, so her retir- 
 ing was nothing remarkable. The rest of the 
 family were in the garden, all but Hope, who 
 sat up-stairs, and Edmund, who kept his bro- 
 ther company. It was a beautiful thing to see 
 the two together, half-sitting, half-lounging by 
 the open window, Edmund with his head on 
 Ninian's shoulder; for, from the great differ- 
 ence in age, their affection was more demon- 
 strative than is usually seen between brothers ; 
 and Ninian often petted and caressed the boy 
 in quite a fatherly way. There was an almost 
 motherly feeling, too, in the pride he took in 
 Edmund's talents, nay, even in his beauty, 
 as, lying with his arm round his young 
 brother's neck, he pulled the thick curls 
 one by one. A sudden motion — a slight
 
 THE HEAD OF THE EAMILY. 179 
 
 dropping of the hand, was the only sign he 
 gave of the pain he felt when startled by the 
 declaration of the boy's wild scheme. 
 
 " So, Edmund," he said at length, " you 
 want to OTQ and leave me ? Is home uncora- 
 fortable to you ? Do I restrain you in any 
 way?" 
 
 Edmund's fervent denial burst forth as his 
 feelings prompted, but still " he wanted to 
 begin the world." 
 
 " I had thought of that. It was ray in- 
 tention you should join me in my office-work 
 the day you were nineteen — not long from 
 this." 
 
 Edmund muttered the proverbial phrase 
 about " drudgery of a desk." 
 
 " Yet at that desk I have laboured and 
 must labour all my life. Once, I too thought 
 it hard : I do not now. And you would 
 have less to contend with than I, being 
 placed not with strangers, but with your 
 brother. Nor would I restrict your favourite 
 pursuits. Your education has hitherto been 
 
 N 2
 
 180 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 continued with a view to ray seeing my boy 
 Edmund a great man, one day." 
 
 The younger brother hung his head with a 
 contrite look; but did not retract his words. 
 
 " Have you any fixed purpose? What do 
 you want to go to London for?" 
 
 " To be — what you said you hoped I should 
 be. And Mrs. Armstrong prophesied so too. 
 I wish to become an author, and write a play." 
 
 This darinsf flisfht made Ninian smile, but 
 it was a rather sorrowful smile, too. It 
 grieved him to see one of his young birds 
 leaving the nest. He hinted this. 
 
 " Yet we must all leave it some time or 
 other," answered Edmund; "or else" — and 
 he blushed beforehand at a speech which he 
 would never have ventured except in his pre- 
 sent chafed mood — " or else it may be with 
 us as with the young birds that stay behind 
 — we may be pushed out." 
 
 " What do you mean ?" asked Ninian, 
 quietly; though his colour rose. 
 
 " That — that" — and the boy hesitated ; but
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 181 
 
 Ninian's truth-compelling eye was upon him. 
 " We may not always have a home with our 
 brother ; he may marry." 
 
 " Did Mrs. Armstrong put that into your 
 mind, too, my boy?'' 
 
 "No: but many others have. Nothing is 
 more likely." 
 
 " Nothing is more unlikely !" The firm 
 voice indicated that Mr. Gramme wished to 
 cease the subject. A year ago he would 
 have turned such a possibility into a merry 
 jest, but somehow he could not now; perhaps 
 because he had lately seen so much of the 
 reality of these things in the cases of Rachel 
 and of John Forsyth. He sat thoughtful 
 awhile, and then said : 
 
 " I will tell vou what we will do, Edmund. 
 Stay with us a few months longer, until the 
 session is ended; then, if you like, you 
 shall go for a year to either of the London 
 collesres." 
 
 " I did not mean that, my kind, good bro- 
 ther ! I meant to go on my own resources:
 
 182 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 to fight ray own way, earn my own bread, and 
 be independent." 
 
 " Ah ! my boy, at your age, to be ' inde- 
 pendent' in London, means to starve. We 
 must not think of such a thins^ while I can 
 manage it differently." 
 
 " But then what would it cost? Not much, 
 I hope," said Edmund, driven by his earnest- 
 ness to view the matter in a far more worldly 
 light than he usually condescended to regard 
 anything. " I would live in a garret — all 
 poets do so at first, I think. I should want 
 very little food ; I never do when I am writing. 
 And then, when I had sold my play and got 
 it acted, I should be so rich — so happy." 
 
 So cried the boy, in that delirium of aspira- 
 tion which genius of his kind — the most sen- 
 sitive and brilliant, though not the greatest 
 — almost always experiences in youth. His 
 brother smiled, but rather absently, as if he 
 had been thinkins;' of somethinof else. And 
 when, touched by so much kindness, and 
 moved to confidence of speech by the dark-
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 183 
 
 ness, Edmund opened the flood-gates of his 
 heart, and poured out all its hopes, resolves, 
 and desires, still Ninian*s voice, though always 
 encouraging and pleasant in tone, sounded 
 rarer and rarer. He Avas thinking much. 
 
 They heard the girls' voices up the avenue. 
 
 " Edmund," said Ninian, suddenly, " I have 
 one thing to beg of you. Do not let the rest 
 of the children ever hear you speak as you 
 did to-niofht." 
 
 " About my going away ? Not if you 
 desire it." 
 
 *' No : but about — the possible change you 
 alluded to. I tell you, it is impossible. I 
 knew that from the time our father died, and 
 so have never thouo^ht about it." 
 
 " About taking a wife do you mean, 
 brother ?" 
 
 " Hush ! nonsense ! Don't let the girls 
 hear. Here I am, the Head of a Family, and 
 here are my six bairns. Come, Edmund, let 
 us go and meet them." 
 
 He stepped out of the window, and soon
 
 184 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 his cheerful voice was heard along the alleys 
 of the garden. He walked, with Tinie 
 hanging on one arm, and Charlie pulling at 
 the other ; the inseparable twins, Esther 
 and Ruth, forming the convoy behind. They 
 all seemed to make more fuss over him than 
 usual, since this was the last Sunday they 
 would be at The Gowans for some weeks. For 
 the hundredth time in his life, Ninian Graime 
 had ilkistrated the adage of " Where there's 
 a will there's a way." That very day he 
 had put in Lindsay's hands a purse full 
 enough to take the whole party to the shores 
 of Clyde. So within two days they were all 
 to be despatched, leaving the master of The 
 Gowans to enjoy its solitude. 
 
 " But you will run over and see us some- 
 times, or I'll not go at all," said Tinie, with 
 an affectionate pout. And Hope Ansted, who 
 seemed to love Ninian, and to testify her love, 
 as much as any of his sisters, echoed the same 
 valorous determination, reinforced by the 
 mute pleading of her eyes. Whereupon her
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 185 
 
 guardicin said that he might come, and vowed 
 to himself that he would, even though he 
 were to work night and day in order to com- 
 pass it. 
 
 They all sat up quite late that Sunday night 
 talking of the blue Clyde, the shadowy giant- 
 peaks of Arran, the Holy Loch, and the pur- 
 ple Argyle hills; planning pleasures all but 
 impossible to realise in this dull work-a-day 
 world. 
 
 But Ihomme propose^ et Dieu dispose — we 
 never tire of the motto; so true, so universal, 
 echoed solemnly by the events of each year 
 — each day. Before the family could leave, 
 Miss Graeme's illness increased upon her, and 
 at last was found to be that horror of horrors 
 in a laro^e household — an infectious fever. 
 Great was the sorrow and consternation ; but 
 Ninian's decision ruled all. 
 
 " The children must go — and go at once," 
 said he, feeling that, humanly speaking, the 
 lives of the httle flock were in his hand. And 
 though Tinie rebelled, and Esther and Ruth 
 came hand-in-hand, with the rare tears visible
 
 186 THE HEAD OE THE FAMILY. 
 
 in their eyes, to entreat they might stay and 
 nurse Our Sister, still Ninian was firm. 
 
 " I will fetch a nurse ; she, and Katie 
 and I, will be sufficient to watch over 
 poor Lindsay," said he to Reuben, the only 
 ' man of sense' left among the brothers, for 
 Charlie was frightened out of his wits, and 
 the gentle, tender-hearted Edmund was in 
 agonies of grief. " They must all start to- 
 day, as we planned: you had better manage 
 it during my absence in town. I will send 
 back word that they must go." 
 
 Ninian's"must," so seldom used, was, when 
 used, as authoritative as the laws of the Medes 
 and Persians. On his return, he found his 
 household were all dispersed. A great change 
 it seemed ; he almost regretted not having 
 said good-by to them, especially to Hope, 
 whom he had scarcely seen for two days. 
 He remembered, with a vague pain, that 
 she was the only one who had not come 
 and begged to stay behind: but then she 
 was not of the family, and could not be ex- 
 pected to feel as Lindsay's own sisters did. .
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAIMILY. 187 
 
 He soon forgot all this in the alarm of the 
 moment; in thinking of her danger who had 
 been his guide and companion so many j^ears 
 — she to whom he was himself so dear — the 
 dearest one now living. He knew and felt 
 this more than ever now — that of all his 
 brothers and sisters, nay, of every human 
 being, there was none who loved him like 
 poor Lindsay. He stood outside her door 
 and listened to her ravings, when, fancying 
 herself a girl once more, she talked of cir- 
 cumstances now long past, and known to 
 none but him. There he stayed, until 
 he could bear it uo longer, but rushed 
 out into the garden ; walking up and down 
 until the damp evening mist began to fall. 
 
 There was a light in the parlour. He 
 thought it strange — that is, if he thought at 
 all about it- — and went in. The tea was laid ; 
 and at the table, looking sorrowful, yet sweet 
 and very calm, sat Hope Ansted. 
 
 She came forward contritely. " I hope 
 you are not angry, Mr. Graeme ? I — I could 
 not go, indeed !"
 
 188 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 He was so astonished, that at first he made 
 no answer. His next impulse was to snatch 
 her up himself and carry her away from the 
 reach of infection. His third, and most rea- 
 sonable one, was to pause and remonstrate 
 with her. 
 
 " Child, child, w^hat have you done ? It 
 is useless ; you must go, and this very night." 
 
 Then, seeing that she made no opposition, 
 except in the mute pleading of her sorrowful 
 look, he began to think how grievously 
 he had misjudged this girl. Quiet as her 
 nature seemed, what heroism of affection 
 there m.ust be in its depths to induce her 
 to act as she had done ! His heart melted 
 with tenderness, even reverence, as he said, 
 gently: 
 
 " Dear Hope, why did you do this ?" 
 
 " Because — I could not help it. Ah ! do 
 foroive me!" 
 
 " Forgive you ?" 
 
 " Yes ; for telling Reuben that though you 
 ordered the others, you were not ray brother, 
 and had no right over me. Otherwise, he
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAmLY. 189 
 
 would not have let me stay; and then I 
 should have been so very, very miserable." 
 
 " Poor little thing — poor loving little 
 thing," said Ninian, laying his hand on her 
 long curls. He was deeply touched — more 
 than Hope had ever seen him. She drew 
 his hand to her shoulder, and leaned her 
 cheek upon it, in a daughter-like way, or as 
 Tinie did. 
 
 " Then you will let me stay — to be useful 
 to you, and to nurse dear Lindsay ?" 
 
 " But, my child, do you know the risk you 
 run? If it is such that I will not expose my 
 own sisters to it, how can I expose you ? I 
 must not, indeed." 
 
 " I do not think that reasoning; holds o-ood. 
 Tinie, and Esther, and Ruth have all got 
 ties in the world — I have no one belonoino^ 
 to me — at least, as good as none. If I took 
 the fever and died, you know it would not 
 sisfnifv. I should not be missed." 
 
 She said this with a sorrowful simplicity 
 that went to Ninian's heart. He was about 
 to answer — with an emotion strange to him
 
 190 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 — that there indeed would be sorelv missed 
 the image of his lovely, winning pupil, who 
 crept in closer every day ; but the very pos- 
 sibility struck him with intense pain. And 
 to it was added some other inexplicable re- 
 straint, so that the thought died unuttered. 
 He only said in a quiet way, " You must not 
 think so, Hope," pressed her hand kindly, 
 let it go, and sat down. 
 
 She took her place at the table, and began 
 to pour out tea — in a timid, trembhng fashion, 
 for it was the first time she had ever done so. 
 Once or twice Ninian said resolutely to him- 
 self, "To-morrow she shall go;" yet it was 
 pleasant and comforting to have her sitting 
 there to-night, instead of being left alone in 
 his anxiety. They talked of Lindsay, and 
 Hope told him, in her simply-worded style, 
 what the doctor said — what the nurse thought ; 
 — until she contrived to leave a hopeful im- 
 pression on his mind. His tea-table still 
 seemed pleasant, and not lonely; until he 
 paused to remember that though the children 
 were all away, yet he scarcely missed them.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 191 
 
 And immediately some words of Edmund's 
 on the Sunday night came back painfully. 
 Was it, could it be possible, that in future 
 time some one, any one — he still sedulously 
 kept his mind to generalities — might come 
 and take in his heart a nearer place than 
 they ? 
 
 When tea was over, Hope rose. " I shall 
 not see you again to-night, Mr. Graeme; I 
 am going to Lindsay." 
 
 " Good Heaven !" cried he, brought back 
 to the sense of all she was doino; for his sister. 
 " Do you think, child, I will suffer you ? 
 Suppose you should take the infection ?" 
 
 " It is too late now," she answered — and 
 something of the firmness which the most 
 yielding of women have when their affections 
 are concerned, came into her manner. " It 
 is no use talking, Mr. Graeme. If I am to 
 catch the fever, I have caught it already; for 
 I have been with her both night and day. 
 And no one shall take me away from my dear 
 Lindsay, whatever be the consequence."
 
 192 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 So saying-, she quietly walked out of the 
 room. 
 
 For days and days she and Ninian met at 
 their brief eveninsr meal, talkinor sometimes 
 in agonised suspense, sometimes in faint hope, 
 according to the tidings Hope brought from 
 the sick chamber. She spoke in grave, wo- 
 manly fashion ; she seemed to have grown 
 years older through this time of trouble, and 
 beneath the responsibility which she had taken 
 upon herself. Ninian ceased even to treat her 
 as a child, and talked with her seriously, trust- 
 ingly, about all things that concerned the 
 stricken household. He owned to himself the 
 while, that though she had not Tinie's liveli- 
 ness or brilliant powers, yet there was a sim- 
 ple wisdom in all she did, that made him 
 trust her more than he had ever done his pet 
 sister. 
 
 So they passed the time, meeting but once 
 a day ; except when, each morning, Ninian 
 came to poor Lindsay's door, which he was 
 forbidden to enter. He resisted not the pro-
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 193 
 
 hibition, for his life was not his own, but be- 
 longed to those unto whom he had devoted it. 
 Thus, he was content, ere he left each day, 
 merely to meet Hope on the landing — she 
 would not let him approach nearer — and re- 
 ceive from her the critical tidings. 
 
 " You would not deceive me, child?" said 
 he sometimes, when his anxiety was insupport- 
 able. " You will promise, that if anything 
 goes wrong, I shall see ray sister?" And 
 Hope, to soothe him, would take upon her- 
 self a womanly strength, quite different to 
 her former girlish submission; telling him 
 how wrong he was to make himself so 
 wretched, when there was hope for Lindsay, 
 since her fever had been of a far less dang-er- 
 ous character than was at first feared, and she 
 would soon be recoverino-. 
 
 At last the news came that all danger had 
 passed, and Our Sister would soon be herself 
 again. " But you must not see her yet — 
 indeed you must not. It is a terrible thing — 
 fever; we must keep you safe, Mr. Gragme," 
 
 VOL. I. o
 
 194 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 cried Hope, speaking excitedly and hur- 
 riedly. 
 
 Ninian looked alarmed. " But what is the 
 matter with you f said he, approaching, as 
 she leaned over the balustrade to speak with 
 him. " Your eyes are glittering, your cheeks 
 flushed." 
 
 " Yes, yes, I could not sleep last night, 
 for joy I think. Never mind, it is no matter. 
 We must all be very merry now." 
 
 And she laughed, poor child, in a way that 
 made Ninian start. " Give me your hand," 
 he said, hurriedly. " Let me feel your 
 pulse." 
 
 " No, no, you must not touch me, you 
 must not come near me," she cried, drawing 
 herself backward from hira. " Go away, go 
 away! Good-by!" She escaped back into 
 Lindsay's room, and shut the door. 
 
 It was indeed a long good-by. She was 
 missing at tea that night, being exhausted with 
 watching, the servant said. Next morning 
 Ninian was at the staircase — their sorrow-
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 195 
 
 fill trysting-place — but Hope did not appear. 
 At night her shrill ravings were the first 
 sound that met his agonised ear; — she also 
 had taken the fever. 
 
 o2
 
 196 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Lindsay recovered fast, but for a long 
 time her faithful young nurse hovered on the 
 verge of death. On Hope, as on many who 
 have caught infection from their self-devotion 
 to others, the fever seemed to have seized 
 with tenfold violence. There was but a 
 hair's-breadth, the physician said, between 
 this frail young life and eternity. Then, in 
 his agony of fear, even remorse, as though 
 he had been the cause of all, Ninian found 
 out how closely round his heart had twined 
 " that child," as he called her still. How 
 he loved her, whether as a child or as a 
 woman, he never paused to think; but that 
 he did love her more intensely than he had
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 197 
 
 ever dreamed, was most true. He knew it, 
 because he felt that her life was as his life, 
 and that her death, or the very contemplation 
 of such horror, would make the world so black 
 that he dared not look upon it. 
 
 Still, he called her " the child," and " my 
 child," nor made any secret of the wretched 
 anxiety which consumed him : the reserve of 
 passionate love had not yet come. He 
 never tried to hide from Lindsay what he 
 suffered; nor abstained from haunting Hope's 
 door, as he had before haunted his sister's. 
 But when, after the crisis, the first glimmer 
 of hope came — when, listening through the 
 open door, he heard one faint tone of her 
 natural voice, and not those frightful ravings 
 — the revulsion of feeling was such that at 
 last it taught him concealment. 
 
 He spoke not a word — he could not speak ; 
 but walked down-stairs, and out of the 
 house. There, in the darkness — for it was so 
 far in the night as to be nigh upon dawn — he 
 stood under the starlight, hearing the rustle 
 of the trees. His throat swelled — his heart
 
 198 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 seemed bursting. With a strong gush of 
 passion — the strongest his life had ever 
 known — he threw himself on the earth, and 
 among the damp, dewy grass, fell more than 
 one tear, wrung from his manly eyes. 
 
 Long time he lay, watching the little 
 stream of light from the one window in the 
 gloomy house — watching, and feeling that he 
 could not go to rest ; he could only sit there, 
 forgetting everything on earth, except that 
 " the child's" life was saved. 
 
 Lindsay was quite well, and had resumed 
 her household duties, ere poor little Hope 
 was able to quit her chamber. When, at 
 last, she was moved into Miss Grseme's dress- 
 ing-room, and Ninian saw her for the first 
 time ; he marvelled to perceive how illness had 
 changed her, bringing into her young face a 
 womanly expression — a thoughtfulness which 
 had never been there before. Over the still- 
 ness of her beauty flitted shadows of the 
 awakening heart. 
 
 Ninian had thought, and Lindsay too, that 
 his first impulse would be to embrace his
 
 THE HEAD OE THE FAMILY. 199 
 
 pet, his pupil, his darling child, restored as it 
 were from the grave. Even Hope seemed to 
 expect it, for, smiling, she half-lifted her fee- 
 ble head to meet the kiss she had often shared 
 with Tinie j and, not receiving it, had looked 
 disappointed a moment, until she saw how 
 much Ninian was moved. 
 
 " Indeed, Mr. Graeme, I am not worth 
 your caring for me so much — you and Lind- 
 say," the poor child said, faintly. " What 
 trouble I must have given you! It seemed 
 almost like being punished for disobeying 
 you, and not going away with the others." 
 
 " I wish you had — I wish you had !" mur- 
 mured Ninian. 
 
 " I don't, though !" And she looked up 
 at Lindsay, who stood on the other side 
 of her sofa. " I think, putting all things toge- 
 ther, I have never been so happy in all my 
 life." 
 
 It might be true. Sickness is very often 
 restful and sweet ; and trouble that awakens 
 or draws together affection, is scarcely trouble 
 at all.
 
 200 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. ' 
 
 " That is rather hard, my love," said Lind- 
 say, in playful reproach. " To have felt 
 happy, when Ninian and I, not to speak of 
 the poor children away, have been all break- 
 ing our hearts for you!" 
 
 " Breaking your hearts ? Ah, then, I'll 
 soon get well, and piece them together !" 
 Hope answered in the same light strain — 
 there seemed such brightness let in upon her 
 life. " I must — I must get well, that we may 
 all go to the Clyde, as Mr. Grasme says. 
 If I could only come down stairs now." 
 
 " Foolish child ! when you cannot even 
 stand." 
 
 But the sickly longing for change would 
 not be restrained. So the next day it was 
 agreed that she should be taken to the quietest 
 room in the house — Ninian's study, He 
 spent an hour or two clearing its dusty 
 shelves, and making it pretty for the poor 
 invalid's eyes. And, though he was not 
 much given to fanciful tastes, or bits of sen- 
 timentalisra in the floral line, he even took 
 the trouble to arrancre flowers amon^ the
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 201 
 
 wormeaten bookcases. Nay, he actually 
 paused to admire them, — the white jas- 
 mines leaning their bonnie heads against the 
 law-books; like the delicate little creature 
 that was about to be domiciled in his dusty 
 old study. 
 
 He went at length to carry her down 
 stairs. That was the most brilliant part of 
 the plan; Hope had even made an attempt 
 to clap her hands in Tinie's fashion, when 
 Lindsay proposed it, though she afterwards 
 recollected herself, coloured slightly, and 
 was afraid it was troubling Mr. Grseme too 
 much. 
 
 But Ninian looked so pleased to see her 
 childish delight, and told her gaily, " that he 
 would carry her from thence to Constanti- 
 nople, if it would do her any good. Besides 
 she was such a little light creature — a mere 
 feather to a great powerful man like him." 
 And for once in his life, Ninian looked with 
 some little pride at the reflection of his fine 
 manly person in the mirror. 
 
 " I'm strong, if I'm no bonnie," said he,
 
 202 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 laughing. " You are not afraid to trust me 
 with your valuable little self, Hope ? You 
 know I am only going down stairs — ^not up to 
 the top of a mountain — you remember that 
 story we once read of the German princess 
 
 being carried up a hill by — by " He 
 
 broke off in his sentence, but Hope finished 
 it merrily, 
 
 " By her lover — was it not ? And he died 
 on the top, poor fellow ! Truly I am glad 
 the journey is only downstairs, for I should 
 not like to kill my kind guardian as she killed 
 her lover." 
 
 Ninian was silent. 
 
 " I have not vexed you, have I, with turn- 
 ing your pet story into a jest?" continued 
 Hope, anxiously. " You know I am not 
 clever like Tinie, but I always admire what- 
 ever you tell me to admire." 
 
 He patted her on the head — called her a 
 good child, and lifted her in his strong arms. 
 But as he held her there, poor little trembling 
 thing I close to his breast, the German story 
 entered his mind — strangely — wildly. A
 
 TKE HEAD OF THE EAMILY. 203 
 
 dizziness came over him, he even staggered. 
 Hope faintly screamed. 
 
 " Don't be frightened, my child — my love — 
 raydarling!" saidhe. The words — words that 
 he had never used before, not even to Tinie, 
 burst from him unawares; he was scarcely 
 conscious of them, till afterwards. And 
 to Hope, from the great difference between 
 her years and his, they seemed quite natural. 
 
 " Never mind me — I feel quite safe — only 
 I am so foolish," she murmured^ hiding her 
 face so as not to see the " grim descent." 
 There was a curl of her hair trembling outside 
 her shawl ; with an impulse impossible to 
 resist Ninian pressed his hps upon it. None 
 saw the action — Hope never knew it; but it 
 betrayed the truth. It was a kiss — the last of 
 calm affection, the first of passionate love. 
 He knew now that the creature he held in his 
 arms, dear as his life, was to him the woman 
 and not the child. 
 
 He laid her down — she leaned on Lindsay's 
 breast, pale with exhfiustion. But he dared
 
 204 THE HEAD OF THE TAMILY. 
 
 not look at her, or speak to her. He muttered 
 something about leaving " the child " to rest 
 — ^went out of the room, and was not seen 
 for hours. 
 
 Women, and especially young- women, either 
 believe falsely or judge harshly of men, in one 
 thing. You, young loving creature, who dream 
 your lover by night and by day — you fancy of 
 that he does the same of you ? He does not 
 — he cannot ; nor is it right he should. One 
 hour, perhaps, your presence has captivated 
 him, subdued him even to weakness; the next 
 he will be in the world, working his way as a 
 man among men, forgetting for the time 
 being your very existence. Possibly if you 
 saw him, his outer self, hard and stern, — so 
 different to the self you know — would strike 
 you with pain. Or else, his inner and diviner 
 self, higher than you can dream of, would turn 
 coldly from your insignificant love. Yet all 
 this must be : you have no right to murmur. 
 You cannot rule a man's soul — no woman 
 ever did — except by holding unworthy sway
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 205 
 
 over unworthy passions. Be content if you 
 lie in his heart, as that heart hes in his 
 bosom — deep and calm, its beatings unseen, 
 uncounted, oftentimes unfelt; but still giving 
 life to his whole being. 
 
 Thus, Ninian Graeme, the same day, the 
 same hour that this delirium came upon him 
 — for at all ages and under all circumstances 
 love's wakening is ever a delirium — went as 
 usual to his office and worked. Once or twice 
 there seemed to come flashing round him an 
 inexpressible light and joy. He felt on his 
 lips the touch of the soft, soft curl ; while ever- 
 more his heart sang to itself the words " my 
 darling, my dailing." 
 
 But still he kept working on. Truly, he 
 had in him the most royal power a man can 
 have — rule over his own soul. 
 
 He chanced to have many visitors in his 
 office to-day ; among the rest, one who, had 
 he been in a less joyous frame of mind, would 
 hardly have been welcome. But he was in a 
 mood to have fell kindly towards his greatest
 
 206 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 enemy ; he certainly did so towards a man 
 whom he had no real cause to dislike — Mr. 
 Ulverston. 
 
 " What, back again in Edinburgh ?" said 
 he, when that gentleman made his appearance. 
 **^I thouo;ht vou were ffoincr abroad." 
 
 " So I was, or intended to have gone this 
 long time, but somehow, I keep on paving a 
 certain nameless road — it is mv wav," an- 
 swered the young man. " But I have some 
 excuse — business. I am sure that confounded 
 fortune of mine has given rae trouble enough 
 in a year and a half." 
 
 " I thought," said Ninian, in some surprise, 
 " that you had had it all your life — that you 
 were one of those lucky fellows ' born to 
 greatness,' as Malvolio says." 
 
 " In a measure, certainly;" and he looked 
 slightly confused, as proud men do who have 
 made an unpleasant slip of the tongue. 
 " However, I was not born to the Ulverston 
 greatness, but had it thrust upon me! I 
 wish sometimes, my old uncle had cut me off
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 207 
 
 with a shilling- instead of leaving^ me a fortune 
 and a name," he muttered. 
 
 But Ninian had not heard; he was answer- 
 ing a message at the door. " Say, if she can 
 wait in town an hour or two, well ; if not, I 
 will be at Musselburgh to-morrow." 
 
 " So you still keep up your journeys to 
 that redoubtable place, Musselburgh ? I be- 
 gin to think there is some reason for it. Has 
 our young friend Forsyth any sisters ?" 
 
 " No," said Ninian shortly. Mr. Ulverston 
 shruocred his shoulders and beofan talkins" of 
 something else ; his disposition seemed so 
 pliable, that he could bend himself to any 
 one's humour. But Ninian's was almost be- 
 yond him, for in truth the young man was 
 very busy, and Mr. Ulverston's conversation, 
 however brilliant, was considerably hindering 
 him. At last he told him this, in his frank 
 way — for Mr. Graeme had the kindliest power 
 of telling straightforward truths, without vex- 
 ing anybody. 
 
 "• So you fairly want to turn me out. 
 That is rather too bad, when I have only a
 
 208 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 short time to spend in Edinburgh, and shall 
 be oiF by the next train to Glasgow. I am 
 going to try and kill a month or two — like- 
 wise a few deer — in the Highlands. I fear it 
 will be dull work, for a miserable solitary fel- 
 low like me." 
 
 " Why don't you marry ?" said Ninian, 
 smiling- at his dolorous face. 
 
 " Marry ! The devil ! What business have 
 
 you I beg your pardon, Mr. Graeme, I 
 
 suppose it is your business. It's everybody's 
 business to get a ' man of fortune* married. 
 I've found that out already," he added, his first 
 angry tone subsiding into one so bitter, that 
 Ninian felt quite sorry for him. This poor, 
 rich man, might have suffered some hidden 
 trouble, even wrong. The young Scotsman 
 thought he had yielded too much to prejudice; 
 and out of compunction, went so far as to 
 possess himself of Mr. Ulverston's travelling 
 intentions, unfolding his own, and even ar- 
 ranging a meeting on the Clyde, near the 
 Gairloch, where the young Greemes now were 
 
 " I will not turn you out from thence, as
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 209 
 
 you say I do from my office to-day. Though 
 indeed there is no need for you to go, if you 
 will content yourself with a book." 
 
 " One of your stupid law-books, I suppose," 
 laughed Ulverston. 
 
 " Nay, they are not all stupid," said Ni- 
 nian, examining his shelves, " here is a volume 
 of trials, concerning our marriage laws; it 
 might amuse you to see how easily the bond 
 is formed and broken in Scotland." 
 
 " Give it me — give it me," cried the 
 other, eagerly. " Nay," and he laughed, " you 
 don't know what use it may be to me in 
 my 'novel of Fashionable Life,' if I ever 
 write one." 
 
 He must, indeed have found the book in- 
 teresting, for he sat engrossed therein until 
 Ninian's hour for departure, and then with a 
 hasty adieu quitted the office. 
 
 Mr. Grasme soon followed, for he was 
 longing to reach home — the home no longer 
 sad, but filled with inexpressible joy. He 
 felt, though he did not analyse his feel- 
 ings, like a man who has awakened sud- 
 
 VOL. I. p
 
 210 THE HEAD OF THE EAMILY. 
 
 denly one morning, and found himself rich ; 
 who stays not to count his riches — scarcely 
 even to ascertain their reaUty; but walks 
 along under a golden mist of happiness, upon 
 which he dares not look lest it should melt 
 into nothingness. 
 
 For the first time in his life, Ninian forgot 
 an appointment; nor recollected it, until, 
 when near The Gowans, he heard quick foot- 
 steps overtaking him. 
 
 " Rachel ! I am so sorry. Indeed I have 
 no excuse to offer." 
 
 If he had, she would not have heeded it. 
 Her whole manner indicated the wildest ex- 
 citement. 
 
 " She has seen him, Mr. Grseme. Jane 
 Sedley has seen ray husband. lie has come 
 back — he is in Edinburgh, near me, and yet 
 I know not where to find him." 
 
 " Nay, be composed, lean on my arm, or 
 else sit down a minute on this stone," said 
 Ninian, as they entered the quiet lane which 
 led to The Gowans. " How exhausted you 
 seem I"
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 211 
 
 " I have been walking up and down Edin- 
 burgh streets these four hours, hoping by- 
 chance to meet my husband. He is here — 
 I know he is here. Find him for me — oh, 
 Mr. Graeme, for the love of Heaven find 
 him !" 
 
 " I will try — indeed I will," answered 
 Ninian, soothingly. " But you must first tell 
 me all particulars." 
 
 " Yes, yes, let me think a minute," said 
 Rachel, making a violent effort to collect 
 herself. " You know I forwarded my letter to 
 Jane Sedley — he was to send there every 
 three months for news of me : but — he never 
 has sent. That signifies little — he had surely 
 some good reason. Now he is come back, 
 I shall see him again — my Geoffrey — my 
 husband." And she trembled all over in her 
 paroxysm of joy. 
 
 " But you said Jane Sedley saw him. How 
 was that, and where ?" pursued Ninian, anxi- 
 ously, for his keen common-sense pierced fur- 
 ther than the blind love of the unfortunate wife. 
 
 " I'll tell you. She had come up to Edin- 
 
 p2
 
 212 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 burgli to see me, and to bring me back my 
 letter. And there, driving down Prince's- 
 street alone in a grand carriage, she saw a 
 face like his. It ivas his — nobody could mis- 
 take my husband's face." 
 
 " Did he observe her?" 
 
 " She thinks he did, for she ran after the 
 carriage. He did not stop to speak to her; 
 how could he ! He could not shame himself 
 in the street, you know, talking to a poor 
 old woman. But he had the letter — she 
 threw it into the carriage. I fear he will 
 be angry — still — he had the letter ! — and we 
 shall meet — we shall meet! " 
 
 " He knows, then, where you live ?" 
 
 " No, no. I mentioned neither names nor 
 places ; he always charged me not. And what 
 were the Forsyths to him ? He never heard 
 their names, nor wished. to hear. He said, 
 since I had no near ties, all my other kindred, 
 so far beneath his, must be forgotten as if 
 they had never existed. And no marvel ! 
 Alas, even if we met, he might be ashamed 
 of me."
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 213 
 
 " Surely lie would not." 
 
 "No; you are right. He is too noble!" 
 cried Eachel, rising up with a proud de- 
 meanor. " Still, I must find him; this 
 suspense is horrible. Perhaps, even now, 
 he may be but a street's length from me. I 
 cannot rest — I must go back to Edinburgh." 
 
 " I will go with you," said Ninian, forget- 
 ting everything in his compassion for the 
 poor young creature — a wife — yet no wife. 
 " Only let me run home for a few minutes to 
 see Lindsay. Will you come — or are you 
 still afraid of the fever?" 
 
 " For myself, no ! But I am not my own. 
 I must run no danger for Geoffrey's sake. I 
 will stay here in the avenue." 
 
 There, Mr. Graeme left her, and hastened 
 to the house. Lindsay met him with a 
 smiling face. 
 
 " The child is still keeping well. She is 
 asleep now in the study. You may go in 
 and look at her; but be very — very quiet." 
 
 There was no need to tell him that. His 
 whole nature — once somewhat cold and 
 hard — seemed softening into inexpressible
 
 214 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 tenderness. When he looked at the girl, 
 lying asleep, pale and fair, he longed to take 
 her and hide her in his bosom ; bidding her 
 nestle there like a young bird, and sit and 
 sing, safe from all harm, all her life through. 
 Still, he only thought of her as his darling 
 — his cherished one — the flower he had 
 saved from perishing. He had never yet 
 breathed to himself the words, " My icife.'^ 
 
 He tore himself away, and went back to 
 Rachel. Putting aside all other thoughts, 
 he turned his mind to her service in this 
 emergency. 
 
 She was restlessly walking about. "You 
 are come at last. Let us start. I tell you, 
 I must see him, or I shall go mad. Think, 
 all this day, I have been walking — walk- 
 ing; every footfall, every face, I have ima- 
 gined was his. I always had that fancy. 
 Many a time I have followed down whole 
 streets any one who was like him, or who 
 reminded me of him, and then at last have 
 beheld some fool's face. As if I could hope 
 to see anywhere in the world another face 
 like my husband's."
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 215 
 
 Ninian smiled — but it was a sad smile. 
 He did not chafe under her wild romance, 
 now. He began to find out that the wisest, 
 the oldest of us, are, while beneath one 
 mighty influence, dreamers of fantastic 
 dreams. 
 
 But he had still power over himself, and 
 over others, especially this poor troubled 
 spirit, of which a curious destiny had made 
 him the only stay. He proposed to enquire 
 at every hotel in Edinburgh for " Mr. Sa- 
 bine." 
 
 Eachel started at the name, so long un- 
 spoken; but immediately a sort of pride 
 dawned in her face. " Yes, Mr. Sabine. 
 You may call him so now. It is a good 
 name, is it not? I had need be proud in 
 bearins; it." 
 
 With a firm step, she followed Ninian 
 to hotel after hotel — never speaking, never 
 lifting her veil. In apparent indifference the 
 question was asked; she heard bandied 
 about, screamed from attendant to attend- 
 ant, the name whose mere utterance seemed
 
 216 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 SO sacred, a name distinct from all other 
 names in the wide world. Sometimes, Ni- 
 nian felt her grasp his arm tightly, but she 
 never said a word. Save that when from each 
 place they went away, the search still vain, 
 she would whisper hoarsely, " Once more — 
 only once more." 
 
 At last, even Ninian gave up in despair. 
 No one even seemed to have heard of the 
 name of Sabine. And in a small city like 
 Edinburgh, where at the dead season of the 
 year every arrival of any consequence was 
 sure to be bruited abroad in the hotels, it 
 was next to impossible they could have 
 missed the object of their search. 
 
 " Either he has never been in Edinburgh, 
 except just passing through, or else he is 
 gone from thence. It is no use; alas ! you 
 must have patience." 
 
 " Patience!" she repeated, in a tone of 
 agony. " Patience ! oh, Heaven !" 
 
 " You say well; Heaven only can help 
 you, my poor Rachel," answered Ninian, 
 soothingly, but firmly, for his judgment
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 217 
 
 warned him that this was only the begin- 
 ning of sorrows. Despite all the forsaken 
 girl's faith in her husband, he who knew the 
 world better could not repress the doubt that 
 under this great mystery was enveloped 
 some great wrong. They were in one of 
 the streets which, leading out from the blaze 
 of Prince's-street, appear at night so quiet 
 and lonely. There he let her rest a mo- 
 ment; she leaning heavily on his arm, while 
 he, unwilling to intrude on what he knew 
 must be deep misery, stood silently watching 
 the hghts of the Old Town, with a few stars 
 twinkling over it through the cloudy night. 
 He was thinking how many woes and 
 crimes lie under life's outer gloss, even as 
 that fairy city, seen by night, is one great 
 corrupting mass of wretchedness by day. 
 And then he thought of the man, whoever 
 he might be, who, perhaps, had lately rolled 
 in his carriaoje down the same street where 
 his unhappy wife now stood, crushed under 
 the burden of her bitter sorrow.
 
 218 THE HEAD OF THE FARIILY. 
 
 Suddenly Rachel dropped his arm. — 
 " There — there," she gasped, and staggered 
 forward. Ninian looked, and saw turning 
 the corner of Prince's-street the dim fiorire 
 of a man, to him quite beyond recognition. 
 But not so with Rachel: excited almost to 
 frenzy, she darted forward — "It is he — it 
 is my husband!" 
 
 The next moment the figure had leaped 
 into a carriage which dashed off at full 
 speed, and was out of sight in a minute. 
 
 " Follow him ! follow him !" shrieked 
 Rachel; but the sound died on her lips — her 
 feet refused their office. She sank in utter 
 insensibility. Some time after, the cold 
 wind blowing through the avenues of The 
 Gowans, recalled her to herself. 
 
 " Where am I ? what are you doing with 
 me ?" she cried. 
 
 " You have fainted, and I am taking you 
 in a carriage to stay the night with my 
 sister Lindsay." 
 
 But with a wild cry of " My husband — I
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 219 
 
 must follow my husband !" she tried to open 
 the carriage-door. Ninian had to grasp both 
 her hands fast, ere he could restain her. 
 
 " Rachel, you must be calm — ^reasonable," 
 said he, resolutely. " It was impossible for me 
 to pursue a strange gentleman on your mere 
 suspicion. Nor did I know whither he had 
 gone. You cannot find your husband, until 
 he shall choose. He knows not you are 
 here. He may be at this moment employed 
 in seeking you. In any case, it is no 
 use fighting against destiny. You have 
 done all you can — you must sit still and en- 
 dure." 
 
 This was a strange homily to read to the 
 poor creature at such a time; but Ninian 
 knew the mind he had to deal with. There 
 are some natures whom soothing only ex- 
 cites into worse suffering — their passions, 
 lion-like, rage and roar, and can only be met 
 by the cold, fixed control of one superior 
 eye. In this manner Rachel was calmed. 
 
 " Endure — endure," she repeated, as if it 
 were a new word he had taught her ; and
 
 220 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 then was silent. At length, she uttered — 
 quite broken-hearted — the longing, " Let me 
 go home." 
 
 So Ninian, perhaps inwardly relieved, 
 changed his intentions, and took her safe to 
 Musselburgh. 
 
 " What must I do. Advise me what I 
 must do?" said she, humbly, as he placed 
 her in the care of faithful Jane Sedley. " I 
 have seen my husband — I know I have — 
 nothing could deceive a wife's eyes. Or, if 
 you doubt me — see, this woman here — she 
 will swear — ay, swear." 
 
 And Rachel shook Mrs. Sedley by the 
 arm; then, crying out, " Ah ! she can speak 
 of him — she loved him !" — laid her head on 
 the old woman's shoulder and wept. 
 
 Mr. Gra3me turned away — there was a 
 deep manly compassion struggling in his 
 heart. He thousfht of his fair darlincj — his 
 little Hope — sleeping safe at home; and 
 then of the poor creature, but a few years 
 older, who had suffered such a world of 
 anguish. He thought, if ever he were to
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 221 
 
 see Hope suffer, and he not have the power 
 to heal it, it would almost drive him mad. 
 
 Eachel came to him at last with a com- 
 posed countenance. " I am not weeping 
 now : I am ashamed that I ever did weep ; 
 but I am so young still, and one cannot be 
 brave always. After all, I think I ought 
 to be glad of this day and yesterday — glad 
 to know that my husband is safe and well, 
 that he has my letter — that we shall soon 
 meet — yes! I know we shall." 
 
 " I fervently hope so, Mrs. Sabine." 
 
 She smiled, even happily, as he addressed 
 her by this name. 
 
 " You will soon always call me thus, but 
 I shall nevertheless be .the same Rachel you 
 have so guided and befriended," said she, 
 giving him her hand. " And now good by, 
 for a time. To-morrow, Jane and I go home 
 together; I shall live in the cottage where 
 my husband lived — where he will find me 
 when he comes." 
 
 " That is right; it is just what I would
 
 222 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 have advised. God bless you and make 
 you happy." 
 
 " And in my happiness I shall come to 
 The Gowans, that my husband may know 
 and thank Ninian Graeme." 
 
 Ninian replied not, except by a kindly 
 farewell. He could not tear down the sud- 
 den palace of hope her devoted affection had 
 reared. But in his strong rectitude he felt 
 an involuntary shrinking from a man who 
 could act like Rachel's husband. As Jane 
 Sedley opened the gate for him, he could 
 not forbear entreating her never to forsake 
 the young wife, so helpless and so much 
 needing help. 
 
 " I'll do all that, sir, and gladly, for Mr. 
 Geofirey's wife," said the woman, and truth 
 was in her honest face. " He was a gay, 
 cheerful young gentleman, and I liked him, 
 that I did ! — And do, for all he passed me 
 in the street yesterday — maybe he didn't 
 mean it though. He was thoughtless enough, 
 but there was nothing bad in him."
 
 THE HEAD OF THE EAMILY. 223 
 
 " I hope not — I hope not, for that poor 
 girl's sake !" said Ninian to himself, as he 
 took his homeward way. Walking along 
 through the quiet night, miles growing into 
 nothing before his stout tread, the troublous 
 scenes of the day gradually melted from 
 him, or left only a sweet sense of his own 
 security and peace. 
 
 Coming to his own home, seeing from 
 the window the one faint ray which marked 
 where little Hope slept, with his kind elder 
 sister watching near, Ninian thanked God 
 that in this sorrowful world he yet had left 
 to him so much happiness — so many trea- 
 sures.
 
 224 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 EvEEYBODY knows the saying, "that the 
 sky is clearest after a thunder-storm." And 
 certainly, if we look back to those epochs 
 of life, rare and few, v/hen we can say, be it 
 only of a week or a day, "Ay, I was happy!" 
 we should chiefly find that they came imme- 
 diately after times of great trouble ; when we 
 watched the grey skirts of the spent cloud 
 slowly retiring; wliile around us the birds 
 began to sing and the grass to grow, and 
 we wakened up to life and its enjoyments 
 like creatures newly born. 
 
 Ninian Gra3me had scarcely ever felt so 
 happy as when he started with his two re- 
 covered invalids on their journey to the
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 225 
 
 West country. It was a sweet autumn day ; 
 but two or three falling leaves drifted through 
 the carriage-windows upon Hope's lap, as 
 they passed through the avenue of The 
 Gowans. Ninian, who sat opposite, screw- 
 ing his long limbs into most eccentric convo- 
 lutions in consequence of innumerable small 
 packages — brushed them away. 
 
 " We must not have withered leaves falling 
 on the child, must we, Lindsay? She is to 
 begin life anew at the Clyde, as a thorough 
 Scottish lassie." 
 
 Hope smiled, though with the listlessness 
 of debility. Still, there was a faint colour in 
 her cheek, — she made the loveliest inva- 
 lid conceivable. Everybody looked at her 
 and Ninian, as he half-led, half-supported 
 her into the railway-carriage; and one or 
 two young lady-travellers smiled. This made 
 his cheek burn, he scarcely considered why, 
 except that he had a mortal objection to 
 appear as a " ladies' man." But he would 
 have done anything in the world for the 
 comfort of little Hope. 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 226 THE HEAD OF THE EAMILY. 
 
 Lindsay was not overlooked — he never did 
 overlook Our Sister — but then she was strong 
 now ; at least as strong as she ever was, and 
 quite able to take care of herself. Besides, 
 her retiring nature always shrunk from being 
 "made a fuss over;" so Hope received the 
 benefit of all his care. 
 
 " I wish we may have the carriage to our- 
 selves, and then the child" — Ninian seemed 
 to take pleasure in caUing her " the child" — 
 " can recline all the way." And he looked 
 very black at two intruders about to advance, 
 until he saw that one of them was his friend 
 Dr. Reay. 
 
 " So, Professor, you are running away from 
 town likewise. Jump in here, then — friends 
 are better company than strangers." 
 
 " Introduce me, Kenneth, my love," said 
 the Professor's companion, a lady, plain 
 and elderly, with that indefinable aspect 
 known by the term of vinegar. Ninian 
 quite started at hearing his old-bachelor 
 friend thus addressed, until he remembered 
 that the worthy man had lately encumbered
 
 THE HEAD OE THE EASIILY. 227 
 
 his domicile with an anfortunate poor relation. 
 And as " Kenneth my love," with a subdued 
 air, muttered something about " My aunt, 
 Miss Reay," Ninian guessed that tliis was the 
 lady in question. He bowed, and then shook 
 hands with Dr. Reay, in warmer fashion 
 even than his wont. 
 
 " And what brings you westward, Pro- 
 fessor?" asked Lindsay, when she too had 
 "done the polite," though in a shy way; she 
 had rather a dislike to meeting strangers. 
 
 " My aunt wished " began Dr. Reay; 
 
 but " my aunt" interrupted, and spoke for 
 herself. 
 
 . "It was not on my account, I assure you, 
 my dear Kenneth. But, Miss Gr^me, he re- 
 quired change of air; he is always working 
 in that horrid laboratory." 
 
 " Observatory, Aunt Barbara," mildly 
 hinted the Professor. 
 
 " Well, observatory ! I am sure I wonder 
 he is alive. I, with my delicate health, could 
 not endure this anxiety about him. So I ad- 
 vised him to go to the coast — with me, of 
 
 q2
 
 228 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 course. A great sacrifice on my part, — very 
 great, unequal as I am to exertion ; but he 
 couid not do without some one to take care 
 of him." 
 
 " Yet I have had no one to take care of 
 me for twenty years," said the Professor, with 
 something between a smile and a sigh. 
 
 " So much the worse — then it is time 
 you had. And I am sure I quite devote 
 myself to you, do I not, Kenneth, love ? 
 He will speak for himself, Mr. Grseme." 
 
 Ninian assented, he was not quite clear to 
 what; he had been placing a cushion at 
 Hope's shoulders, and was only dimly con- 
 scious of his neighbourhood to the sole thing 
 which he really hated in the world — " a 
 woman with a. tongue." Perhaps one of 
 Hope Ansted's attractions in his eyes was 
 her being a creature who had the blessed 
 gift of silence. 
 
 " Well, Reay, is it not pleasant to break 
 loose into the delicious country in this way ! 
 I don't think I ever enjoyed it more," 
 said he, as he poked his head out to look at
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 229 
 
 the grey Palace of Linlithgow. He then 
 pointed it out to Hope, who said it was 
 " very pretty," and lay watching it in pas- 
 sive pleasure, while Dr. Reay, taking up 
 the word, learnedly began to dilate on its 
 antiquarian interests. 
 
 " There, Kenneth, that will do ; don't 
 fatigue yourself, or over-exert your poor 
 brain, which was to have a complete holiday, 
 you know," brok.e in the indefatigable Miss 
 Beay. "Besides, Mr. Greeme probably knows 
 as much about the place as you do, and your 
 talk will only weary that sweet, delicate- 
 looking young lady, his sister." 
 
 " She is not my sister," explained Ninian, 
 slightly confused. " This is Miss Hope 
 Ansted, Miss Reay." 
 
 *' I beg your pardon, I really imagined — 
 But if I had only considered a moment, bro- 
 thers rarely appear so very, very thought- 
 ful and attentive. Your cousin, perhaps ?" 
 
 " No, neither brother nor cousin," an- 
 swered Hope, looking somewhat amused.
 
 230 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 " I wisli he were either, indeed ! But you 
 would not say he was inattentive if you only 
 saw Mr. Grceme at home. There never was 
 such a sood brother as he !" added the affec- 
 tionate little maiden, stirred up to energy at 
 last. 
 
 Ninian thanked her both in word and 
 look. Yet somehow he was disappointed. 
 He had thought she would have sat silent, 
 instead of defending his cause so warmly, 
 and he half-fancied the approbation of her 
 eyes would have been sweeter than that of 
 her tongue. Yet why should he regret, 
 when she made no secret of her affection 
 and esteem for him ? Still, if she had not let 
 it come out to that horrible woman, whom 
 he heartily wished — in the next carriage! To 
 escape, he turned to his friend, whom he 
 now began to look upon as a martyr, and 
 set him off on a discussion respecting the 
 geological formation of the Campsie hills, 
 which were now becoming dimly visible. 
 
 Once wound up and set a-going, the worthy
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 231 
 
 Professor never stopped. His grey eye 
 lighted up with intellect, his massive brows 
 rose and fell — a habit he had when 
 talking, which showed that the wrinkles 
 there were the impress, not of years, but 
 intense thought. He was mounted on his 
 hobby; and Kenneth Eeay appeared then, 
 and then only, a happy man. Ninian like- 
 wise, though he never talked much^ was a 
 pleased listener; but his ear occasionally 
 wandered to the conversation on the oppo- 
 site side, where sat Hope and Lindsay, with 
 the Lady of the Tongue between. 
 
 " So, Mr. Gramme has many brothers and 
 sisters ? No wife, I suppose ?" 
 
 " How should he want one?" said Hope, 
 smiling at the bare supposition. " His sis- 
 ters all take care of him — even I help some- 
 times, don't I, Lindsay ? We couldn't let 
 him marry. Besides, he would never think 
 of such a thing as falling in love ! At his 
 age, too !" 
 
 " Hope, my dear," said Lindsay, roused 
 from the quiet silence into which she usually
 
 232 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 fell on any change from home, she who so 
 rarely stirred abroad. " Take care not to 
 over-exert yourself Do you know you are 
 talking almost as fast as Tinie ?" 
 
 " Because I feel so glad, so merry. This 
 seems like a journey into fairy-land to me, 
 who never used to go anywhere. But," 
 she added, watching her guardian's eye, ten- 
 der, though serious, " perhaps I talk too 
 much. Did I interrupt ?" 
 
 " No, no ! Be blithe and happy, my child," 
 was Ninian's low answer, as he turned back 
 to the Professor and his geology, feeling 
 rather painfully, that it was perhaps best 
 suited to him, or he to it, " at his age." He 
 was getting old. 
 
 But though he ceased to watch the child 
 — fancying he was almost a check upon her 
 pleasure — he, nevertheless, heard every word 
 that fell from her hps. Few they were, for her 
 unwonted gaiety was soon suppressed by lin- 
 gering feebleness. When they reached Glas- 
 gow, she appeared so much exhausted that he 
 proposed they should rest there for the night.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 233 
 
 " No, no, I want to get to the journey's 
 end. I want to see Tinie and the rest," she 
 said, beseechingly. So they took her down 
 to the Broomielaw, but she could hardly 
 stand, and grew quite dizzy, poor little thing, 
 at the sight of the gangway by which she 
 had to descend to the steam-boat. 
 
 "Would you like me to carry you as I 
 used to do ?" asked Ninian, hesitating. 
 
 " Ah — yes !" She put her arms round 
 his neck, and once more he held his little 
 darling, his " wee birdie," safe in his breast. 
 But she knew not how his manly heart 
 throbbed — with tenderness infinite— with 
 dawning passion — with a vague fear of things 
 to come, that made him clasp her close as 
 if to feel that now at least the child was 
 his own — all this she knew not, nor ever 
 knew. 
 
 He carried her to the stern of the boat, 
 and made her a charming couch of plaids. 
 There, when Miss Reay had vanished into 
 the cabin to be seen no more, and the Pro- 
 fessor, left to Miss Graeme's universal kindli-
 
 234 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 ness, was labouring to inform her mind on as 
 simple a subject as his own could furnish — 
 viz., the geological and antiquarian history 
 of Dumbarton Kock, — Ninian sat beside 
 Hope Ansted, sometimes talking, sometimes 
 idly watching the waves of the blue, broad 
 Clyde, that each minute grew broader and 
 bluer in their sight. They were neither of 
 them inclined to be romantic — and certamly 
 there was nothing ultra-poetical in a Glas- 
 gow steamboat. Ninian sometimes pointed 
 out the scenery opening on either shore 
 with — " Is not that beautiful?" — and Hope, 
 lifting up her weary head, tried to look 
 pleased and admiring. As the evening 
 shadows grew over the river, and the 
 dim, purple light in the west showed him 
 Hope's face, thin and wan, yet so peaceful, 
 contented, and sweet, he began to feel as if 
 there were nothing in the world but himself 
 and this child, who had so crept into his 
 circle of happiness, rounding it all, and 
 making it as though it had never been com- 
 plete before.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE EAMILY. 235 
 
 He did not quite understand his feelings. 
 He was not sure that he loved — this tender- 
 ness was so different from any of his boyish 
 fantasies and frenzies; but he felt as if he 
 should like to sit as now, with Hope's hand 
 in his, floating down the still river eternally? 
 with the great hills looking on. Or else he 
 longed to take the child in his arms once 
 more, and go with her over those hills to 
 some hidden paradise, where there were no 
 such things as law-courts, and law-papers, or 
 worldly cares of any kind — where no one 
 might enter but their two selves. 
 
 — He had forcrotten all about his brothers 
 and sisters ! He had pictured a paradise 
 which could only be shared between him- 
 self and — his wife. He had dreamed of 
 things, possible and probable to all outward 
 seemino; but which he in his stronf?, risfhteous 
 heart, sternly fulfilling the vow he had made, 
 knew to be utterly impossible ! 
 
 With these thoughts, not clearly defined, 
 indeed, yet still dimly rising in his brain, 
 Ninian met his family.
 
 236 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 The whole train — a goodly train , too — were 
 gathered on the shore of the Gare Loch. The 
 twins, looking grave and matronly enough 
 to justify the trust placed in them as guardians 
 of the little troop, were there with a quiet 
 welcome. Tinie danced about in her ancient 
 fashion ; Edmund, keeping close to Lindsay, 
 seemed scarce^ able to express his joy; 
 while Reuben and Charlie, bounding hither 
 and thither, shouting orders to boatmen, 
 and contending over luggage, were still, as 
 ever, the noisiest and most jubilant of all. 
 
 "Oh, how nice this is! — how cosy we 
 are!" was all that Tinie could say, when 
 the family were assembled in the parlour 
 of their little cottage. It was a family 
 group only — for Hope had been despatched 
 at once to bed, by Lindsay's thoughtful care. 
 Ninian wondered that no one seemed to miss 
 her much — no one but he ; however, he said 
 nothing, except that when his sister reap- 
 peared he asked " How the child seemed 
 after her journey ?" 
 
 " What makes you call her ' the child ?'
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 2S^ 
 
 She is no more a child than I," remarked the 
 pertinacious Tinie, setthng herself as of old 
 at her brother's knee. 
 
 Ninian laughed, pulled her hair, and in- 
 quired how long it was since his small pet 
 had grown into an elderly woman ? Then 
 gathering his little flock in a circle round the 
 fire — welcome enough that chill autumn night 
 — he began to talk and to listen. 
 
 In a large family, especially one of unity 
 and affection, individual feelings have less 
 opportunity to be indulged or developed. 
 They become merged in the great whole. If 
 ever we hear of men or women, in whom one 
 consuming passion, be it of ambition, fame, 
 or love, eats away existence, we generally 
 find them to be those whom fate had set 
 apart for a solitary life. The " family 
 feeling" essentially modifies the egotism 
 of individual emotion. Realities subvert 
 vain dreams — habitual affection supplies the 
 place of passion; and when the one over- 
 powering love does come, it is guided and
 
 238 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 reined in by other sentiments, inferior, but 
 still intense. The individual impelled to bow- 
 before the controlling power, does it in a 
 Christian, dignified manner; not lying feebly 
 down, Bramin-fashion, before his idol's car, to 
 be crushed into dust by a god of his own 
 creation. 
 
 Thus Ninian Graeme, when he saw him- 
 self once more among his own home circle, 
 looked round on their young faces, listened 
 to their mirth, the old familiar pleasures came 
 over him — his vague dream vanished, at least 
 for the time, and he felt only as the loving 
 elder brother, cherished and revered — the 
 Head of the Family. 
 
 ''Certainly, as Tinie says, this is 'nice!*" 
 exclaimed he, stretching himself in the arm- 
 chair, which, as usual, had been assigned to 
 him ; " I declare I am glad we came on alone 
 and left the Reays at Greenock, though the 
 Professor seemed disappointed, poor fellow ! 
 Dreary enough was his former bachelor 
 life, but I think he will find an aunt-ridden
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 239 
 
 existence somewhat worse." And Ninian 
 amused his brothers and sisters with an ac- 
 count of their journey, and a not over-flatter- 
 ing, but still good-natured sketch of Miss 
 Reay. 
 
 " All women are disagreeable enouo'h, but 
 old maids are the most horrible creatures 
 under the sun. To think that one of the 
 species is coming to live beside us! — I 
 shall go on a pedestrian tour, or bivouac 
 far up in the Argyle Hills," said Reuben, in- 
 dignantly. 
 
 "Or else go and live with Mr. Eneas 
 MacCallum, and I'll row across the Loch to 
 see you every day. Somebody will like that, 
 you know," said Tinie, with a mischievous 
 twinkle in her bright eyes ; to which Reuben 
 politely responded with, " Don't be a fool," 
 and the grave twins with a duet of " Oh, for 
 shame !" 
 
 " Here's a nice little mystery," cried Ninian, 
 much amused. " May I be allowed to inquire 
 who is Mr. Eneas MacCallum ?" 
 •, Thereupon arose a chorus of " I'll tell " —
 
 240 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 " Noj'let Tinie "— " ' Tis all the boys' foolish- 
 ness," &c. &c., which made Our Sister look 
 quite uncomfortable. And in process of time 
 came out the alarming fact that, despite 
 the proprieties vigilantly maintained by the 
 twins, the family had made an acquaintance, 
 contemptuously christened as " Tinie's beau;" 
 a stout, wealthy Glasgowegian, who pursued 
 her and them with every conceivable atten- 
 tion, and against whom all the three brothers 
 were up in arms. 
 
 " They lead me such a life, you can't tell," 
 said Tinie, piteously. "Reuben lectures me all 
 day over; and if we walk out, Edmund tucks 
 me under his arm till my poor wrists ache 
 with reaching up so high. Little Mr. Eneas 
 would be a great deal more comfortable." 
 
 " Tinie ! you are incorrigible," muttered 
 Edmund, roused out of his dreaminess into 
 a positive frown. 
 
 " I assure you, brother, it's no fault of 
 mine," pursued the wilful damsel, looking 
 absurdly demure. " I can't help people's 
 admiring me, and Mr. MacCallum is a very
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 241 
 
 nice little man; lie has been most civil to 
 all the boys; and even Esther confesses 
 his mother to be a douce, kind sort of a 
 body. Besides, their house at Koseneath is 
 beautiful." 
 
 " And you would greatly like both the 
 house and the mother, wouldn't you now? 
 together with that stupid, roly-poly, vulgar 
 little fool ?" cried the indignant Reuben. 
 
 " Come, come ! that's rather too hard," 
 interposed the elder brother, as he saw 
 his pet's flushing cheek. It made him 
 feel uncomfortable for a moment, lest there 
 might be some truth at the bottom of the 
 children's nonsense. To try it, he said, 
 quietly glancing a meaning look across to 
 Lindsay, who seemed in a state of most 
 alarmed suspicion. " Well, I must see 
 this grand hero, this conquenng Eneas of 
 Troy — that is, Glasgow. Of course, now I 
 am come, he will direct all his attentions to 
 me. But I will not interfere. Miss Tinie 
 may please herself." 
 
 " Do you mean what you say, brother 
 
 VOL. L R
 
 242 THE HEAD OF THE FAJNULY. 
 
 Ninian ?" said Tinie, Ler merrj^ little face 
 becoming rather grave. 
 
 " Certainly." 
 
 " And would you actually let me go ? 
 Do you want to be rid of me ? Would you 
 really have me married ?" 
 
 " If you wished it so very much !" an- 
 swered Ninian, growing mischievous in his 
 turn. 
 
 " And married to that fat, awkward lump 
 of inanity ?" 
 
 " ' A very nice little man,' " you said. 
 
 " And send me to be smoked to death in 
 that horrid Glasgow, among people who 
 have no more brains in their heads than 
 
 you or the Pro or any of our friends 
 
 at home have in their little fmsjers! I 
 wonder you could ever think of such a 
 thing, brothpr Ninian !" cried the little 
 maiden, absolutely getting into a passion. 
 
 At which indignation the elder brother 
 was rather pleased than otherwise; and as 
 he calmed the diminutive tempest he had 
 raised, he felt that it would indeed be a
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 243 
 
 most unpleasant thing to give away his pet 
 sister to any body. 
 
 So the family sky being again clear, he 
 began to enter into their various plans for 
 the best spending of this little holiday. " It 
 must now be brief to all," he said, candidly 
 telling them how heavy this j^-ear's expenses 
 had been upon his small income ; " but though 
 he himself must return in a few days, the 
 rest should stop as long as he could possibly 
 manage it, for the sake of Lindsay's health, 
 and that of Hope." 
 
 " Ah, poor little Hope, how kind you 
 are to her, too; there is nobody like my 
 brother — so generous — so self-denying," 
 murmured the affectionate Tinie. 
 
 " Genei'ous — self-denying.^'' The words 
 jarred upon his honest spirit, as if there were 
 in him something of deceit, which made him 
 unwilling to meet his sister's eyes. He did 
 not speak again of Hope Ansted. 
 
 But when the little party was dissolved, 
 and he himself left to fulfil the unpoetical 
 master-of-a-family duty of bolting all the 
 
 b2
 
 244 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 doors, he stood a minute or two outside in 
 the garden, meditating. 
 
 It was "a goodly night," a night 
 that would bring instinctively to every 
 thoughtful man the deepest feelings of his 
 soul, awakening any secret hidden there, 
 which the habit of daily life glosses over and 
 presses down into insignificance. Ninian stood 
 and looked at the broad dark Loch, with 
 the stars overhead ; at the wavy line of hills 
 beyond, brightened by a dim auroral light. 
 A sense of solitude, of unrest, oppressed 
 him; with it, came a longing for some tie 
 closer than that of kindred ; some love which 
 should be about him continually, engrossing 
 both soul and sense, giving him those emo- 
 tions without which existence often declines 
 into blank selfishness, making him ac- 
 knowledge, as some wise man says : " That 
 to be the husband of a wife and the father 
 of a child, is to rise to a higher place as 
 citizen of God's universe." 
 
 He thought how it would be, if instead of 
 standing there by himself, he stood and felt
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 245 
 
 arms twining round his neck, closer than 
 Tinie's ever clung. Or if, climbing up to his 
 stalwart breast and hiding there, were small 
 winsome creatures — a baby-girl nestling to 
 her father with shy sweet eyes — or a sturdy 
 boy, riding on knee and shoulder, blotting out 
 from the young man's heart all its past griefs, 
 broken dreams, or erring follies, and causing 
 it to swell with a new pride — " This is my 
 son /" 
 
 It was the first time Ninian had clearly 
 thought of these things. He was not a 
 youth wrestling with a vague love-dream; 
 he was a man, to whom with all its bearings 
 near and remote the passion came — or at 
 least was coming; not madly, but with a 
 force silent and deep as his own nature. All 
 he had put from him — the ties of husband 
 and father, the sweetest tenderness, the 
 strongest pride a man can know — began to 
 dawn upon him with a regret keen and sore, 
 though formless still. Ere it took form, he 
 felt that he must fly from it. 
 
 He turned his eyes from the sky, over
 
 246 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 which, cast by the yet unseen moon, was 
 floating a hght, soft and serene as a virtuous 
 woman's love : he shut his ear to the ripple 
 of the tide, rising among the stones of the 
 beach with a sound like little children's 
 laughter. He went in — bolted and barred 
 the door even as he had closed the bars of 
 his own heart — and so passed into his 
 chamber.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 247 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 To sleep after seven a.m., when the shores 
 of the lovely Gare-Loch were glowing in the 
 brightest September morning that ever 
 dawned, was certainly a deadly sin. Charlie 
 and Reuben evidently considered it so, for 
 they halloed incessantly at every one's door 
 until the whole family were ready for break- 
 fast. Soon afterwards, so early that it was 
 almost incredible, appeared, coeval with the 
 first boat — Professor Reay. 
 
 " And without his aunt ! Oh dear, what a 
 pity !" cried Tinie, as she ran through the 
 garden, all bonnetless, to open the gate. At 
 which condescension Dr. Kenneth looked an 
 innocently happy man^ though he found it
 
 248 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 quite impossible to express his delight in any 
 way than by informing the inquisitive little 
 fairy half-a-dozen times over, " that he was 
 come to look for lodgings." 
 
 " He look for lodgings !" said she, publish- 
 ing the fact, " why, he would not know a 
 decent cottage from a Highland hut. He 
 has no notion of anything in the world — he 
 would be cheated on every side — he always 
 is." 
 
 " I suppose so," said the learned man with 
 a half sigh, as he turned from the merry 
 maiden's shower of banter to his friend Ni- 
 nian, who stood looking at the beach, where 
 the three boys were pulling up a cockle-shell 
 of a boat. Therein Hope was to take her 
 first " water-airing," as her guardian had 
 whimsically expressed it, when persuading 
 her to the same. She came beside him, 
 her cheek already rosier with the pure 
 breezes from the Loch, watching the boys' 
 movements in undisguised delight. Ninian 
 cast one look on the beautiful face; his own 
 grew troubled — he walked to the other win-
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 249 
 
 dow, and resolutely tried to compose his mind 
 sufficiently to argue with the Professor con- 
 cerning the tidal peculiarities of the Firth 
 of Clyde, and at what period of pre- Adamite 
 history the Gare-Loch, Holy-Loch, Loch 
 Long, &c., were likely to have been formed. 
 
 " I never knew such an atrocious waste 
 of time," cried Reuben, entering with a digni- 
 fied rebuke. " Edmund and I have been 
 sitting half an hour on the edge of the boat, 
 and the girls won't come. Who is ready, 
 and Avho isn't ? or else we will shove off 
 and leave you all !" 
 
 On which summons there arose a division 
 in the family, as to who was to go with Hope, 
 and who was to wait until the Professor and 
 Miss GrEeme returned from their cruise after 
 lodgings. Ninian was, as usual, the ruling 
 arbiter. 
 
 " The Twins are the steadiest of you all 
 — let them take care of Hope. Reuben and 
 Edmund will row." 
 
 " And not you ?" said Hope, timidly. " I 
 thought you would go too."
 
 250 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 " No, my dear, I have letters to write," 
 he answered. No one ever opposed Ninian 
 when he spoke in that pecuhar, resolved 
 way; so Hope patiently turned to the Twins, 
 and took hold of Ruth's arm ; but she 
 walked feebly, and coming to the rough 
 beach, Ninian saw her pause, evidently quite 
 alarmed at the prospect before her. 
 
 " Those careless boys ! they forget the 
 child has been ill;" muttered he, as he went 
 down to the shore, and helped her across 
 the sand and sea-weed into the boat. Hope 
 clung to his hand. 
 
 " I wish — I wish you were going ! I 
 never was in a thing like this before, and I 
 feel half-frightened," she whispered, looking 
 across the broad water, as if it were an abyss 
 of horror impossible to pass. 
 
 " You foolish English lassie," said Mr. 
 Graeme, smiling, " Ave must teach you better. 
 You will soon get accustomed to our Lochs. 
 Indeed you are quite safe; the boys are good 
 rowers, and very careful." — A fact slightly 
 controverted by their being at this moment
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 251 
 
 struggling who should get a particular oar, 
 until Edmund was tilted out of the boat, 
 nearly capsizing it, and getting wet up to 
 the knees besides. 
 
 " Nay, boys, this will never do," said the 
 elder brother, as Euth and Esther began 
 loudly to complain, and intreat him not to 
 leave them. Hope seemed too frightened 
 to speak, but she looked up imploringly 
 to Ninian, whose arm she had instinctively 
 clasped. He paused a moment, and then 
 took his seat beside her. 
 
 A push or two from Edmund's oar, as the 
 boy stood up, displaying somewhat proudly 
 his gracefril figure, now growing muscular 
 and strong, — and off flew the little craft. 
 Certainly the poets are right when in their 
 descriptions of Paradise, or any paradisaical 
 sphere of being, they invariably contrive to 
 introduce a boat. Tasso, in his voyage of 
 the Two Knights — Dante, in his vision of 
 the Angel-guided bark — Shelley, in his Re- 
 volt of Islam, where the " spirit- winged boat" 
 bears Laon and Cythna to the land of im-
 
 252 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 mortality, — do but slightly idealize upon a 
 reality as near approaching the Elysian ex- 
 istence as we stupid mortals can conceive. 
 
 "Well, brother, is not this delicious?" 
 cried Edmund, as he paused to dip his bared 
 arms in the water, shaking back his curly 
 hair, and showing his brown face — no longer 
 pale and poetical-looking, but ruddy with 
 all the health of early youth. 
 
 Ninian assented, with an admiring glance 
 at his brother, and thinking in his own mind 
 that Lindsay was right when she declared 
 her boy to be the bonniest laddie that ever 
 was seen. Eeuben, labouring vigorously and 
 merrily at his oar; Esther, sitting in rather 
 grave solitude at the bow ; and little Hope, 
 resting at the bottom of the boat with her 
 head on Ruth's lap, made up a freight of 
 perfect happiness. 
 
 Half closing his eyes, Ninian sat listen- 
 ing to the lapping of the water at the 
 keel, which Edmund, much to his younger 
 brother's scorn, declared was exactly like
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 253 
 
 the sound of a kiss — a mermaid's kiss, of 
 course. The boat appeared hterally to 
 float in sunshine — so glittering were the 
 waves of the Loch — so intensely bright was 
 the sky. Even the mountains seemed asleep; 
 scarcely one cloud-shadow glided over them. 
 The oars fell into the water with an even, 
 monotonous, lulling sound; everything else 
 was quite still. Ninian gave himself up to a 
 dreamy calm of delight — there seemed over 
 him a sort of golden haze through which all 
 his life's realities, bitter and sweet, were seen 
 afar off like shadows. Only once, when a 
 passing breeze blew one of Hope's long curls 
 across his knee, and without thinking, he 
 began to twist it round his fingers, he 
 was conscious of a feeling which many of 
 us have at a time when our cup of happi- 
 ness is full — so full that we dread lest 
 the next breath may dash it from our lips. 
 He thought, if that same hour — that same 
 moment — with the sky so sunny, and the 
 waves so clear — the boat could go down — 
 down, swift as lightning, only giving him
 
 254 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 time to take the child in his arms, that in 
 death he might hold her there, sleeping 
 safe at the bottom of the blue Clyde, — 
 perhaps such an ending would be the best 
 thins; he could wish for ! 
 
 He was roused by a slight cry from Esther, 
 and the near threatening of the very cala- 
 mity he had been contemplating, — occasioned 
 by Keuben's eagerness after the pursuit of 
 marine zoology. 
 
 " I've got it — I've got it," he cried, nearly 
 lurching the boat over to stretch his oar to- 
 wards a beautiful Medusa. But the fairy 
 thing went floating by — Happiness herself is 
 not harder to catch than a live Medusa! 
 However, the attempt produced great fun, 
 and much laughing over Hope's ignorance ; 
 she had never even heard of such an animal. 
 Consequently, Ninian, in his desire to inform 
 her mind, held her round the waist, while she 
 leaned over the boat's side, dipping her hand 
 in up to the very elbow, with a vague notion 
 that she should thereby catch something. 
 And her laughter was so blithe, so thoroughly
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 255 
 
 infantile in its joyance — that Ninian thought 
 what a simpleton he had been, to dream such 
 dreams, and make such stern resolves con- 
 cerning a mere child ! He was a grown man, 
 old enough to be — not exactly her father — 
 but something very like it ; she was his pet — 
 his darling; he might still keep her as such, 
 and be happy, without blame. 
 
 So he cast off the silence w^hich had hune 
 over him, and began to amuse the rest, which 
 Our Brother so well knew how to do. And 
 as their laughter — even Hope's, rang over 
 the sunny river, he thought that after all to 
 enjoy life on the surface of the Clyde, was 
 better than sleeping ever so sweetly in death 
 at the bottom. 
 
 Their sail was not intended to be lonsr, 
 for over them hung the grim shadow of 
 Miss Eeay, who was to appear soon after 
 noon. " We must be at home then," ob- 
 served the conscientious Esther, and Ninian 
 agreed thereto, though he felt as if he could 
 gladly have sailed on to eternity down the 
 beautiful Clyde. This being impossible, he
 
 256 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 Steered the wee boat round by Roseneath 
 Bay, remarking to Hope, tliat " that was the 
 place where Jeanie Deans landed, the land 
 of MacCallum More." 
 
 " Oh, I know all about the gentleman," 
 said the ignorant little maiden, with a 
 sly smile. " Tinie told me the whole story 
 of him and his house, and his mother, before 
 we went to sleep last night." 
 
 " She means that hateful Eneas, little stu- 
 pid as she is !" cried Reuben, who was not 
 more polite to Hope than he was to his 
 sisters. " And lo ! ' Speak of the deil,' &c. 
 Mr. MacCallum's there !" 
 
 Ay, so he was, wading up to his little fat 
 knees along the beach, and vociferating with 
 all his might. 
 
 " Crouch down, Hope, he'll fancy you 
 are Tinie. Oh, how vexed he will be," 
 wickedly cried Edmund, who, in making 
 common cause against the would-be intruder 
 into the family, condescended to be more 
 common-place and unpoetical than had ever 
 been known before.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 257 
 
 But the elder brother put his veto on any 
 tricks of the sort; perhaps from a sort of 
 tender-heartedness towards the harmless 
 little man, whose good-tempered face became 
 clouded the moment he neared the boat and 
 missed his ladye-love. He was certainly ho- 
 nest in his adoration, and Ninian, being quite 
 sure of its hopeless nature, could afford a little 
 benevolent pity. So MacCallum More — as, 
 in memory of Hope's blunder, he was hence- 
 forth christened by the family — was taken 
 into the wee boat, and safely landed in the 
 presence of his idol. 
 
 Tinie was indeed a complete magnet to 
 the other sex; they seemed to follow her 
 everywhere. She appeared at the landing- 
 place, attended not only by the poor faithful 
 Professor, but by another gentleman, the 
 very opposite of Kenneth Reay in outward 
 seeming. 
 
 "Mr.Ulverston, you see! He has just landed 
 at the cottage, and waited for your return," 
 said she, with a somewhat shy look at her 
 brothers, and a malicious one at that un- 
 
 VOL. I. s
 
 258 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 fortunate Eneas, whose smiling face grew 
 dark the minute he saw her hanging on a 
 stranger's arm, and making herself quite 
 at home there. 
 
 " Who is Mr. Ulverston ?" whispered 
 Reuben, already beginning to frown. " A 
 friend of yours, Hope ?" 
 
 Hope turned languidly round, but meet- 
 ing Mr. Ulverston's gaze — the sort of gaze 
 he always directed at pretty girls — she 
 blushed deeply. 
 
 "Your two sisters, Mr. Graeme, of course? 
 The likeness is sufficient," said he, bowing 
 to the twins. " This lady I think I have 
 seen before — I cannot exactly tell where." 
 
 " Mr. Ulverston — Miss Ansted," was Ni- 
 nian's brief introduction, without any ex- 
 planation. But he saw Hope's blush, and 
 heard her whisper to Tinie something about 
 the " railway station." She had not forgotten 
 that incident, apparently. Involuntarily he 
 looked at Mr. Ulverston, who was busy 
 making acquaintance with the boys — his gay 
 winning face, his manner — ejnpresse, yet not
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 259 
 
 forward — his speecli and mien so unmistake- 
 ably that of a gentleman! Somehow, when 
 Ninian saw his sisters and Hope smiHng to- 
 gether, he wished he had not given so warm 
 an invitation to Mr. Ulverston. 
 
 But the latter seemed determined to make 
 himself agreeable. He helped to drag the 
 boat ashore, thereby ruining his delicate kid 
 gloves for evermore; and then began joking 
 with Tinie, who evidently was bent on 
 monopolising the attentions he appeared 
 quite willing to give. Leaving the beach, 
 he offered one arm to her and another to 
 Euth ; they went on laughing together, while 
 Esther slowly followed with Hope. 
 
 " I remember that little damsel," was his 
 sole remark concerning the latter. " Why 
 did you not say you knew her, Grseme? 
 By Jove, she is a lovely girl, but seems so 
 quiet." 
 
 Ninian made no reply to this communica- 
 tion — made carelessly, in the intervals of 
 playing the agreeable to all the Miss Grsemes 
 
 s2
 
 260 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 in succession ; a position of universal admirer 
 which no one seemed more calculated to 
 fill than the young stranger. Moreover, 
 his attentions, spread so extensively among 
 the whole family, quite reassured the elder 
 brother, who began to catch the infection of 
 Mr. Ulverston's gaiety. 
 
 " I don't know how I shall find house- 
 room for you all," said he, smiling, when, 
 added to the party there came Lindsay and 
 Miss Reay. " You can never all dine in 
 this wee parlour; suppose we seize our pro- 
 visions — ^journey away, and make an en- 
 campment among the mountains?" 
 
 " Or," cried the boys, who seemed to have 
 grown terribly aquatic in their propensities, 
 " let us take to the boats ; we can get two, 
 and sail away round the foot of the Loch 
 to Ardmore, dine there, and come home by 
 starlight." 
 
 " Delicious !" responded Mr. Ulverston, 
 on behalf of the whole ; looking round 
 as if quite satisfied that his pleasure would
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 261 
 
 be found the ruling pleasure. Everybody 
 echoed him but Hope, who looked doubt - 
 ingly to Ninian. 
 
 " Are you afraid ? — will it tire you ?" said 
 he, going up to her. Somehow, in the pre- 
 sence of a man of the world like Ulverston, 
 he could not say, as usual, " my child." 
 
 " Oh! we will take the greatest care of 
 Miss Ansted. She must not refuse, indeed 
 she must not," pursued Mr. Ulverston, 
 following him. " So 
 
 ' Come o'er the sea, 
 Maiden with me,' 
 
 as my great countryman says." 
 
 " Your countryman ! I thought you were 
 English," said Ninian. 
 
 " I was brought up in England, but my 
 father was an Irishman," he answered, some 
 what hesitating, as if he were rather ashamed 
 either of the country or the paternity. 
 
 " Yet Ulverston is an English name," 
 broke in Miss Reay, utterly unable longer 
 to hold her tongue. " When I was in 
 England," — the grand Hegira of her exist-
 
 262 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 ence, it seemed — " when I was in England, I 
 heard it more than once. There were the 
 Ulverstons of Devonshire — respectable^ very 
 — but poor : the young Miss Ulverstons of 
 Cheltenham — Sir Peter Ulverston of Hart- 
 land Hall. May I ask to which of these 
 families you belong ?" 
 
 " To all and any of them, madam," was 
 his answ^er, smoothing his slight frown into 
 a bow and smile of great suavity, which 
 made Miss Reay confess privately, " he 
 was the nicest young man she had ever 
 seen." 
 
 He followed up his attentions by handing 
 her into the boat, and making double use of 
 her — converting her plaid into a comfortable 
 cushion for himself — and leading her into 
 such a flood of reminiscences of her English 
 life, that no further opportunity occurred 
 for remarks on his own family or nation. 
 
 In the other boat, the wee one, Ninian 
 rowed a quiet freight — his eldest sister, the 
 Professor, and Hope. None of the party 
 talked much. Hope lay — her lips parted in
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 263 
 
 silent pleasure — looking sweet and fair. Her 
 slight " young ladyisms," her little follies, 
 only appeared in Time's company; with 
 her guardian she was always quiet, gentle, 
 grave. 
 
 There was a general gathering on the 
 beach of Ardmore. Such fun — such laugh- 
 ter — such scrambling among the slippery 
 rocks and beds of dulse ; Mr. Ulverston and 
 his wondrous politeness being in constant re- 
 quisition to aid unwary footsteps. He was the 
 life of the whole party, with his unfailing 
 gaiety — his brilliant talk — nay, even his songs 
 — for he turned out to be one of the few sina;- 
 ing-men who can give a pathetic song with- 
 out appearing sentimental, or a comic ditty 
 without making buffoons of themselves. And 
 while he was pouring out his rich voice in 
 some old songs, there suddenly came over 
 him a cloud of such heavy gloom, that it 
 awoke the compassion of the only one of the 
 girls who did not seem fascinated by him — ' 
 Hope Ansted. 
 
 " I don't think that man is quite as happy
 
 264 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 as he seems. I feel almost sorry for him," 
 said she to Lindsay. 
 
 " It is the Irish nature — cloud and sun- 
 shine — gaiety and gloom," answered Ninian, 
 who always happened to be holding close 
 watch over his late invalids; while the 
 rest of the party disported themselves as 
 they chose. "You will see; he will be 
 merry again in a minute." 
 
 And so he was; yet with occasional re- 
 lapses into the pensive melancholy which 
 interests all tender-hearted young girls to a 
 marvellous extent, until they find how much 
 nobler is that brave manliness which baffles 
 fate, and shows to the world a quiet aspect, 
 unmoved and serene, whatever lies beneath. 
 So, now and then, Hope's gentle eyes 
 wandered in the direction of Mr. Uiverston ; 
 and her beauty, softened by a feeling of pity, 
 appeared more interesting even to him. 
 More than once, he stopped in the middle 
 of a shower of witticisms to move nearer 
 to her, and converse in a serious tone, as 
 if, with his quick tact, he saw at once that
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 265 
 
 the pathetic side of his character was the one 
 more hkely to harmonise with hers. 
 
 " Here is a Robinson Crusoe picture — a 
 colony in the desert. Will you go with me 
 and see it, Miss Ansted?" said he, bounding 
 back from a little journey of discovery he 
 had been making among the rocks, in com- 
 pany with the more adventurous of the party. 
 " It is the oddest place — a little hut built of 
 mats and dried sea-weed — and in it there is 
 a withered anatomy of an old woman, and 
 such a pretty fairy of a child ! It is just 
 like a Highland edition of Sycorax and Ariel. 
 Do come." 
 
 Hope looked involuntarily at her guardian ; 
 he smiled permission, and she went away, 
 Mr. Gr^me and Lindsay following. 
 
 " Is it not charmingly picturesque ?" Ninian 
 heard Mr. Ulverston say to Hope, " Look 
 into the hut. It is quite a Rembrandt 
 effect — that red firelight, with the old woman 
 crouching down among the smoke. My 
 infant Ariel, too, how very pretty, is she
 
 266 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 not? I do adore beauty in all ranks of 
 life!" 
 
 Hope drooped her head, smiling, as if 
 with some dawning consciousness that this 
 last sentence included her, or was meant to 
 do so. 
 
 " They do not seem very miserable either, 
 do they^ Miss Ansted? One might make 
 a little Paradise out of such a lovely solitude 
 as Ardmore. I had once dreams of love in 
 a desert myself." 
 
 " Then I suppose you would fall in love 
 with that Highland beauty if she were only 
 a little older," said Ninian, somewhat amused. 
 " Mr. Ulverston and the grand-daughter of a 
 poor dulse-gatherer — for I know the good 
 woman of old. It would be a comical 7nh- 
 alliance." 
 
 " Mesalliance !" repeated he, as the 
 quick blood rushed angrily to his brow. 
 " I trust you do not imagine me capable 
 of such folly. That would be an insult 
 indeed."
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAIVIILT. 267 
 
   " Nay, Mr. Graeme was only jesting," 
 interposed Hope, timidly, as she looked 
 from Ninian to Mr. Ulverston, who was still 
 chafing under what seemed a degree of an- 
 noyance quite unaccountable. Her eyes 
 rested on the latter, perhaps with a wo- 
 manly leaning toward the one whom she 
 thought was wronged. She touched his 
 arm, saying gently, " Do not be vexed at Mr. 
 Graeme ; we never mind his jesting speeches 
 — never. He always means kindly." 
 
 " Thank you," said Ninian, in a slow 
 voice which expressed pain, but so slightly, 
 that Hope perceived it not, nor turned as 
 usual to hft up her face of innocent con- 
 ciliation. And though immediately after- 
 wards she came to his side, talking in her 
 old affectionate way; still for hours after 
 Ninian was haunted by the image of the 
 young creature he so cherished — as seen 
 in that momentary gesture of hers, glid- 
 incr from him and towards another. It 
 was the first warning of what he should 
 feel, did that happen, which he had hitherto
 
 268 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 not dared to conjure up in his lightest 
 thought. 
 
 However, he thanked God, — ay, his feel- 
 ing was so earnest that he positively caught 
 himself saying in his heart that solemn 
 thanksgiving — there was no likelihood of 
 such a thing at present. Mr. Ulverston, 
 after his momentary admiration — and he 
 had looked with intense admiration at the 
 earnest face of the young girl who was so 
 anxious to soothe his ruffled feelings — flitted 
 back to Tinie, who was, though not the pret- 
 tiest, much the most agreeable and amusing. 
 At which preference the wicked little maiden 
 was filled with coquettish pride; so as to 
 brave the piteous looks of MacCallum More, 
 the scornful glances of her three brothers, 
 and, last of all, the quiet retiring of Kenneth 
 Keay. He, with a patient countenance, 
 stole away, and was discovered at last 
 sitting on the beach, his long legs half 
 covered by the advancing tide, hammering 
 pensively away at a submarine rock of curi 
 ous formation.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 269 
 
 Sweet and still sank the early September 
 eve, with its long rich twilight. The woods 
 of Roseneath grew black, and the Argyle 
 mountains dim; while far down the broad 
 estuary of the Clyde glowed the sunset, 
 chanCTino; the dim river into hues of lilac and 
 rose. 
 
 " Why, brother, you are gTOwing ' senti- 
 mental !' " cried Tinie, as Ninian stood beside 
 the rocky ledge where with plaids and cloaks 
 he had fashioned a comfortable resting-place 
 for Lindsay and Hope. He stood on the 
 rocky point, his tall figure clearly defined 
 against the sky, his arms folded, the low 
 sunset shining on his face, which had, changed 
 much that day, but which now wore a calm 
 and holy expression. He was thinking, as 
 earnest and rather grave minds like his are 
 prone to think in such a scene and time, of 
 the two great truths, the only truths of life — 
 Love and Eternity. 
 
 Such a deep serenity was over him, that 
 he only smiled when Tinie called him
 
 270 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 "sentimental." "Well, my 'wee thing,' 
 even you yourself look somewhat subdued 
 this lovely evening. And did I not see Mr. 
 Ulverston take out of his P — coat pocket a 
 book, which looked marvellously like a 
 volume of poems ?" 
 
 Mr. Ulverston pleaded guilty, and flou- 
 rished Tennyson threateningly before the 
 eyes of the little party. 
 
 " We are all tired of scrambling ; let us 
 sit down and read. There is quite light 
 enough, for I know Tennyson almost by 
 heart," said he. Hearing which, Edmund, 
 greatly mollified, looked up at the young 
 man, observing sotto voce to Hope, "that 
 he was not such a puppy after all." 
 
 " I never thought him one," said Hope, 
 quietly, as she turned and listened to the 
 reading. It chanced to be, by some one's 
 request — " The Lord of Burleigh." Ulver- 
 ston read well, and seemed rather proud of 
 his reading. There was some strong feeling, 
 too, underneath, indicated both in his voice
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 271 
 
 and countenance — at least, so thought Ninian 
 and Hope, the only two who watched him 
 closely. When he reached the verse — 
 
 " And a tender consort made he. 
 And her gentle mind was such, 
 That she grew a noble lady, 
 
 And the people loved her much," 
 
 he shut the book, saying, impatiently : 
 
 "■ Really, I think this is the only piece of 
 twaddle our friend Alfred ever wrote. I 
 can't read poetry I don't like — I am reading 
 horribly now. Who will finish it for me ?" 
 
 " I," cried Edmund, gladly ; " I know it by 
 heart. It was one of the poems she liked 
 best of any." 
 
 " She ! Ha, ha, Master Edmund !" 
 " A friend of mine — of us all," said the 
 boy, colouring. But somehow Mr. Ulver- 
 ston's half-sarcastic laugh made him ashamed 
 to mention the name of Rachel Armstrong. 
 He took the book and finished the poem, after 
 which they all began to discourse thereon. 
 
 '* It is a true story, people say. I wonder 
 if the Lady of Burleigh were really so sweet
 
 272 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 a creature, and so much beloved," said Hope, 
 just venturing to speak, in answer to the 
 deferential kindness with which Mr. Ulver- 
 ston requested her opinion, 
 
 " I believe her portrait is still in some 
 noble hall or other; I forget where," Ninian 
 replied. " The only thing I recollect is, that 
 her real name was Sarah Huggins. I have 
 no faith in the happiness of such unequal 
 unions ; they generally begin in mere head- 
 long passion, and end in wrong or in sorrow." 
 And he looked grave, remembering a story 
 which he alone knew. 
 
 " What do you think on the subject, Mr. 
 Ulverston ?" said Edmund, addressing him. 
 He stood stamping the air-globules of sea- 
 weed till they went off, one after the other, in 
 small volleys of sound ; idle baby-play, were 
 it not for the fierce, restless manner in which 
 he devoted him to the occupation, as if for 
 the mere desire of crushing something. 
 
 " What do I think? I think Lord Bur- 
 leigh was a fool I He might have admired 
 the village beauty, many a simple youth does
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 273 
 
 that. He might even have amused himself 
 with a harmless flirtation — great honour, 
 too, for her. But to marry her; to take a 
 common clod and set it beside him in his 
 ancestors' halls. Faugh ! I say he was a 
 fool." 
 
 " A fool, perhaps, but at least an honest, 
 honourable man," said Ninian; and his grave 
 eye confronted Mr. Ulverston, whose angry 
 manner changed immediately. He seemed, 
 chameleon-like, ever to take the hue of his 
 neighbour's mind. 
 
 " Of course — of course. Nay, we are get- 
 too serious on this matter. I declare I am 
 speaking as if there were rising up indignantly 
 within me, ' all the blood of all the Howards.' 
 But," he added, with an air of smiling frank- 
 ness, " to explain my hastiness in this matter, 
 I ought to confess that I have a friend, who 
 once got into an unfortunate entanglement 
 
 of this kind. But he shall get out of it he 
 
 shall, by Heaven ! A man cannot sacrifice 
 his whole life to one youthful folly. You, 
 Mr. Graeme, as a man of common sense, 
 
 VOL. I. T
 
 274 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 knowing the world, would you not say the 
 same ?" 
 
 " Not being acquainted with the circum- 
 stances, it is impossible for me to decide," was 
 Ninian's somewhat cold answer, which fell 
 like ice on fire upon the impetuous, variable 
 temper of the young man. 
 
 " I believe it is scarcely necessary you 
 should decide," said Mr. Ulverston proudly; 
 and either moved apart — two discordant na- 
 tures, which no power on earth could ever 
 harmonise. 
 
 Ninian might have noticed him more, or 
 perhaps given out more of his own upright 
 mind in this matter, but that the hush of the 
 lovely evening was upon his feelings. Sit- 
 ting there, with the quiet river beyond, and 
 beside him Hope's soft profile, drooping, de- 
 licate, and womanly, or else growing into 
 almost spiritual beauty as it was upHfted in 
 the twilight, he could keep up no jarring of 
 the outside world. No romantic ecstasies were 
 indicated in his look or manner ; in fact, he 
 scarcely said a word, except a pleasant re-
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 275 
 
 sponse now and then to Tinie's fantastic 
 humours. But he sat quietly happy, listening 
 to "the children's" chatter, or to one or two 
 poems which Edmund would persist in asking 
 Mr. Ulverston to read, until the light failed. 
 
 " We must indeed go home now," said the 
 elder brother, rousing himself at last, and 
 beginning to collect the little stragglers of 
 the party, especially Miss Reay, who, in 
 considerable ill-humour, was found sitting 
 over the dulse-gatherer's fire — and the poor 
 Professor, of whom, for a long time, the report 
 had been non est inventus. 
 
 " Our Brother has such a keen sense of 
 duty in small things," laughed Tinie. " He 
 thinks we ought to go home, so go home we 
 must. What say you^ Mr. Ulverston ?" 
 
 " Je ne vois pas la necessite^ as the French 
 Queen answered, when they told her that poor 
 people must live. Duty is all very well, but 
 I never do anything unpleasant if I can help 
 it," said the young man, shrugging his shoul- 
 ders. " And when this move of your brother's 
 will result in my being left on Helensburgh 
 
 T!2
 
 276 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 pier, to find my way onwards by to-morrow's 
 steamer, and leave all this fair company — 
 really, Miss Christina, you will excuse my 
 saying, that it is unpleasant." 
 
 And he looked so disappointed, that Hope, 
 despite her evident weariness, tried to plead 
 for a longer stay; fearful lest they might be 
 o-oins; home on her account. 
 
 " You never think of yourself, my love — it 
 is well you have Ninian and me to think for 
 you. We must really go, Mr. Ulverston," 
 was Miss Gra3me's decisive answer. 
 
 " Then it seems a pity that I should de- 
 tain you to go round the pier; I can easily 
 walk along the shore to Helensburgh," said 
 he ; and, without allowing any one to oppose 
 him, he quickly made his adieu to all except 
 the boys and Ninian, who were down at the 
 boats. Almost before the rest were aware of 
 his intentions, he was seen disappearing along 
 the beach. 
 
 " Poor young man — he is a somewhat hasty 
 temper, I fear. I am sure I did not mean to 
 oiTend him," observed Lindsay, regretfully.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 277 
 
 " He is a great simpleton to take it as such," 
 Tinie cried. " And Hope there looks as 
 sorry for him as if he were a much-injured 
 individual. Why, child, your compassion ex- 
 tends from an ill-used cat to a young gentle- 
 man in a bad humour. Never was there such 
 a soft-hearted little thing." 
 
 " I don't like to see anybody uncomfortable," 
 was Hope's meek reply, so meek, that even 
 Tinie could not teaze her any more. And as 
 Ninian, when he heard the story of Mr. Ul- 
 verston's flight, only said, " Oh, indeed! I 
 will call on him at Helensburgh early to- 
 morrow," the subject soon died away. 
 
 Ere the little convoy started, it was already 
 dusk; the stars were coming out, and from 
 the opposite shores of the river the lights of 
 Greenock and Helensburgh twinkled in fairy 
 rows. All the river between grew black — a 
 desolate abyss, awful to traverse — at least 
 so the timid Hope seemed to think, as she 
 drew closer to her guardian, to whom she in- 
 instinctively looked in all danger. And 
 Ninian, putting his arm round the child,
 
 278 THE HEAD OF THE FAJMTLT. 
 
 laughed at her fears, showincp her the beauti- 
 ful line of gold which yet barred the west, 
 lying across the dim reach of the river. Then 
 he pointed out the phosphorescent light made 
 by the oars in the water — silvery showers, 
 which Edmund declared fell exactly like the 
 waving of a mermaid's hair — " the same 
 mermaid that was in the habit of kissing the 
 keel" — as Reuben maliciously added. Where- 
 upon the young philosopher held forth learn- 
 edly on the causes of the phosphorescence 
 seen in particular rivers or seas, until he found 
 that nobody was listening; so, with a contemp- 
 tuous grunt, he stopped. 
 
 Afterwards they all grew quiet and grave, 
 even the singing from the other boat became 
 fainter, or sank into a soft " Ave Maria," or 
 the beautiful hymn, " O Sanctissima." Night 
 on the wide open river, with the stars over- 
 head, and the darkening waters below — in 
 such a scene even the gayest spirit might well 
 take a solemn tinge. And Ninian, still hold- 
 ing the child, until she ceased to tremble, and 
 sat looking upward with a new awe on her in-
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 279 
 
 nocent face, felt his soul stirred within him. 
 He said few words, but those few were graver 
 and more earnest than he had ever spoken 
 before in Hope's hearing. He spoke less as to 
 the child than to the woman — of serious 
 things, of this life, its duties, its sorrows, and 
 of the life to come. 
 
 " I like to hear you," said Hope, with deep 
 affection in her reverent eyes. " I think I 
 should be always good if you took care of me." 
 
 A throb came, great and strong, almost 
 rending his heart as it arose — a longing to 
 stand alone under those stars, with Hope 
 clasped close to his breast, vowing to her 
 and before God, that nothing should ever 
 part her from his care. And his resistance 
 of both — ay, even in thought, gave Ninian 
 the first warning pang of all he had to suffer 
 — nay, perhaps all he had to forego. 
 
 He answered in his calm, kind voice, " Do 
 you think so, my child ?" Soon afterwards 
 he let his arm drop from round her, though so 
 gently that she never felt the loss. He talked
 
 280 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 awhile with his younger brothers, then took 
 the oars from them, and dashed the boat along 
 with fierce sinewy strokes, as if he were 
 sweeping against an ocean of fate — hopeless, 
 yet struggling with unconquerable will. No 
 clear thoughts had he either of past, pre- 
 sent, or future — his mind was in a whirl. 
 When at last they reached the shore, he 
 sent his sister and Hope quickly homeward, 
 himself lingering behind to see that the boat 
 was safe, and to wait for the other merry 
 crew, whose voices came faintly over the 
 water. There was still a brightness in the 
 west, for a September sunset is so long in 
 dying ; but elsewhere mountains, river, and 
 sky were in heavy shadow. 
 
 With a sadder feeling than the mere closing 
 of a happy day — though even that is always 
 sad — Ninian stood alone on the shore of the 
 Gare-Loch, idly counting over the hours of 
 holiday pleasure, which in his life had been 
 so few — the bright morning, the still, sunny 
 afternoon, the evening so serenely fair.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 281 
 
 Now the day had come to an end, as all 
 things must. There floated in his brain, as 
 a sort of dirge over its brief happiness, the 
 burden of a poem Edmund had read at 
 Ardmore : 
 
 " And the reapers reaped, 
 
 And the sun set, and all the land was dark."
 
 282 THE HEAD OF THE FAIMILY. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 " TiNiE, I have something to say to you. 
 Will you come and walk with me down the 
 shore ?" said Ninian one morning. He had 
 sat very grave all breakfast-time, reading 
 his letters, or meditating in silence. Tinie 
 looked almost alarmed at the " something," 
 except that her brother never scolded, and 
 rarely lectured, save in the gentlest way. 
 So she put on a brave face, took his arm, and 
 walked with him, chattering merrily in her 
 usual way, at least for some time. 
 
 " Christina, is it possible for you to be 
 serious for five minutes ?" 
 
 She knew he was in earnest now, for it 
 was not once in six months that he called her
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 283 
 
 Christina. " Are you angry with me, bro- 
 ther ?" 
 
 " No, not angry, but somewhat grave. 
 I have received this letter, which I think 
 you ought to read. Do so now, and then 
 we can speak about it." 
 
 " 'Tis from Eneas — the vaUant Eneas ! I 
 have already had a score of his precious com- 
 positions," said she, her mirth again rising. 
 
 " I did not know that — but read this letter." 
 
 She did so, at first laughing, then gra- 
 dually becoming grave. Ninian was not 
 surprised ; he himself had been greatly 
 touched by the honest little lover's plain 
 statement of his feelings — by the humility 
 with which he spoke of his worldly advan- 
 tages, and the manly earnestness of his 
 appeal to Time's brother for the hand of his 
 wayward ladye-love. 
 
 " Well ?" said Ninian, as his sister re- 
 turned the letter, and hung her head in silence. 
 
 " Yes, brother." 
 
 "Are you in earnest about this matter? 
 I can scarcely believe it, and yet if, as he
 
 284 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 says, you have received his letters, accepted 
 his attentions, given him no denial in any 
 way — is that all true, Tinie ?" 
 
 She made no answer. 
 
 " Must I suppose it true, then ?" said 
 Ninian, stung with a doubt that made him 
 scarcely bear to look on his pet sister. 
 " You cannot really love Mr. MacCallum — 
 you ridicule him too much. Is it to him, or 
 to [his wealth, that I am to give my sister 
 away ?" 
 
 " Brother !" She tore her arm from him, 
 and stamped the sand with her little foot. 
 " I wouldn't marry that man if he were as 
 ricli as Croesus." 
 
 " Why then did you lead him to suppose 
 you would ? Think of his letter — humble 
 indeed — so humble it almost grieved me; yet 
 he evidently believes that though he does 
 not deserve you, he will win you at last. 
 Why did you allow this ?" 
 
 •' Because — because — we were all so dull 
 here, and he amused me." 
 
 " He amused you ! And you have gone
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 285 
 
 on wounding the heart of an honest man for 
 'amusement.' I know girls do that some- 
 times, still I did not believe it of my sister." 
 
 Tinie kept silence, tossing her proud Httle 
 head once or twice, and struggling not to 
 cry, or rather not to be seen crying. 
 
 " How long has this been going on ? I 
 mean — not in jest, as I thought it was when 
 I came here a fortnight ago, but in earnest, 
 as it was on one side, at least. I wish — I 
 wish that I had seen it before!" 
 
 " You might have seen it," said Tinie, 
 half sulkily. " I never made any secrets 
 about Mr. MacCallum and his visits, only 
 ever since Lindsay and Hope have been ill, 
 you have been too busy over them to mind 
 
 me." 
 
 Ninian drew back, conscience-stung. 
 
 " Not that I am so ill-natured as to 
 grumble at your taking such care of them," 
 continued Tinie. "Nobody could be too 
 kind to Our Sister: and you can't help 
 liking Hope any more than we can, she 
 is such a sweet little thing, a great deal
 
 286 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 more amiable than I. Besides, as Miss 
 Reay says, slie is so fond of you, and makes 
 such a fuss over you." 
 
 Ninian turned his face to the Loch, over 
 which the morning sun glittered and flashed. 
 But it was not that which blinded him, and 
 made him feel as if everything were reel- 
 ing to and fro. Only for a moment; — the 
 next he answered — as he must answer, as 
 he would have answered, though the words 
 had choked him, — 
 
 " I am glad to hear that; we should all 
 try to be kind to a girl so desolate. In her 
 sad position, and remembering what her 
 father is, I trust I shall always do my duty 
 by her. However, I was not talking of 
 Hope Ansted, but of you." 
 
 He said this, and no more, for with the 
 effort even his strong heart failed. Tinie, 
 ashamed of her momentary ill-feeling, an- 
 swered nothing, so that the brother and sister 
 walked on in perfect silence. In one, at least, 
 heaven only knew all which that silence con- 
 cealed !
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 287 
 
 At last Ninian spoke. " And what am I 
 to say to Mr. MacCallum?" 
 
 " Say ? Nothing ! Or just tell him that I 
 never meant anything but fun, and I couldn't 
 think of marrying him — a comical, fat, little 
 goose of a man. I wonder he could ever 
 fancy such nonsense !" replied Tinie, whose 
 light spirits revived in a brief space of time. 
 Strangely, bitterly, they jarred upon her 
 brother. 
 
 " Child," said he, " you have done a 
 wrong thing. In this matter, my heart goes 
 more with that poor man than it does with 
 you. If, instead of your thoughtless message, 
 I told Mr. MacCallum you were not worthy 
 this sincere attachment of his, it would be 
 nearer the truth." 
 
 " Tell him so, then — little I care!" 
 
 "No, I will not tell him. But I will 
 write at once, as he entreats me — and some- 
 thing in his perseverance touches me, so that 
 I shall do it more warmly than I would 
 have done a week ago, when I thought he 
 was a mere wealthy simpleton, beneath the 
 least notice of my sister."
 
 288 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 "And you think him not beneath my 
 notice now ?" 
 
 "No; because he offers you an honest 
 heart, which, though refusing, no woman 
 ought contemptuously to spurn. Child ! you 
 are young; you don't know the world, or 
 the men in it — how lightly they love, how 
 continually they play and trifle with girls' 
 hearts — especially such gay, sparkling crea- 
 tures as you, — and never say frankly, as Mr. 
 MacCallum does, ' I love you — be my wife, 
 and I will try to make you happy.' And 
 if I must explain all — -mind, I do it, not 
 thinking of my own feelings in the matter, 
 but simply fulfilling my duty towards this 
 honest man, who has left his cause in my 
 hands — I ought to tell you, Christina, that 
 as the world goes, this would be deemed no 
 unworthy offer for a girl entirely without 
 fortune, between whom and poverty hangs 
 only one life — mine. I say this, because I 
 wish to lay all sides of the case before you, 
 that at no after-time you may repent of your 
 decision."
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 289 
 
 This was a long, grave speecli — the first 
 of the kind that Tinie had ever heard from 
 Ninian. She looked up a moment to see if he 
 were in earnest — he was, indeed ; she even 
 felt frightened at the stern lines of his face. 
 
 "Would you be glad, then, if I married 
 Eneas MacCallum?" she asked. 
 
 " I never said that." 
 
 " No ; but you implied it. I see how it is 
 — Miss Reay was right in what she told me — 
 I believe it all now," cried Tinie, the angry 
 tears rising to her eyes. 
 
 " You believe what ? Nay, answer — I 
 must know!" said Ninian, firmly, though his 
 face flushed. 
 
 " That some of these days you would long 
 to be rid of us. That we — the twins and 
 myself — ought to make haste and get hus- 
 bands, ere we found we had no home in our 
 brother's house." 
 
 "And you believed this? Go on — tell 
 me all she said." 
 
 " All ! as if that were not enough ! No^ 
 thank goodness ! I have not yet seen my 
 
 VOL. I. U
 
 290 THE HEAD OF THE FAmLY. 
 
 sister-in-law. I did not suppose you would 
 marry a mad woman like Mrs. Armstrong, or 
 a mere baby like Hope Ansted, or " 
 
 " Or Miss Reay herself," added Ninian, 
 trying to smile. " Tinie might imagine even 
 that, when once she takes into her head such 
 unjust thoughts of her brother." 
 
 He was indeed one worthy the name ot 
 man, who could speak so calmly, with a 
 voice that never betrayed one trace of the 
 struggle beneath — the passion, the self-re- 
 proach, the love warring against other love, 
 and the stem, iron hand of duty laid over all. 
 
 " Were they unjust? Oh, say over again 
 that they were unjust ? You couldn't do it, 
 Ninian; you couldn't turn away your poor 
 little pet, and marry her to any stupid fool 
 that asks her — no, not even that you might 
 take a wife yourself? Never mind what Miss 
 Reay said — the wretch ! If I had really be- 
 lieved it, it would have broken my heart." 
 
 So exclaimed the little creature, pouring out 
 her feelings amidst a shower of tears, trying 
 to di^aw Ninian's hands to her, and wonder-
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 291 
 
 ing that he stood so grave, so cold, so un- 
 like himself, though without a shadow of 
 unkmdness or anger. 
 
 " You ^vill forgive me now ? I would 
 not grieve you for a moment, my own 
 brother ! — we all know what an angel of a 
 brother you are. You will never think of 
 marrying when we love you so much ? 
 That was what I said to Miss Eeay. Tell 
 me, only tell me, that it is so ? You will 
 never go and love some stranger, and leave 
 your sisters alone in the wide world ?" 
 
 He turned his face upward — it was very 
 white —or else the sunshine made it seem so. 
 He said, " God is my witness, I never will !" 
 
 Then he sat down on a stone, and let his 
 little sister creep to him, claspmg him round 
 the neck, laughing and crying at once, 
 breakuig off at times to murmur, " Oh, for- 
 give me !" " Oh, don't let my naughty words 
 grieve you I" " Ninian — brother Ninian — 
 you are quite sure you love me better than 
 you love any one ?" 
 
 "What — not satisfied yet?" And he tried 
 
 u2
 
 292 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 to look at lier with liis old smile, aud caress 
 her ill his old affectionate way, but could not. 
 " God forgive me !" he muttered, and once 
 more turned his face up to the broad sky, 
 that wore to him a brightness like marble, as 
 dazzling and as hard. He was thankful that 
 Time's tears blinded her, so that she did not 
 see her brother. 
 
 "Yes, indeed, I am quite satisfied! I 
 will never grieve you any more — never! Say 
 that you are not grieved now — at least, not 
 very much?" 
 
 "Oh no — oh no." He patted her hands, 
 which held him so closely; and then as he 
 rose up their clasp dissolved of itself. " We 
 must walk on now, Tinie — at all events, I 
 must. I think" — he faltered, as if for the 
 first time his heart recoiled at the necessary 
 liypocrisy — " I think you will be tired if 
 you go further — nor shall I Hke you to 
 return alone." 
 
 " I am not tired in the least, and I would 
 like to walk with you all the way to Helens- 
 burgh."
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 293 
 
 " It will not do," said Ninian, witli a faint 
 smile. " I have business. I must send my 
 wee sister back, now that we have talked 
 over all we had to speak about." 
 
 Tinie looked ashamed. She waited a 
 minute for him to recur to the subject of 
 their earlier conversation; but he did not. 
 He walked along mechanically, as if ob- 
 livious of everything. She said at length, 
 timidly : 
 
 " Brother, I know how wrong I have 
 been about that letter. Will you tell me 
 what I must do — or will you tell Mr. Mac- 
 Callum yourself?" 
 
 "Tell Mr. MacCallum what? Ah, yes, 
 child, what we were saying. I understand!" 
 
 " You will write to liim, then ; tell him I am 
 very soiTy — I am, indeed — and I will never 
 do so any more," said the little maiden, in a 
 tone of great compunction. " For the rest, 
 brother, you know what to say." 
 
 " Yes, yes !" He drew his hand over his 
 eyes. " I am very stupid, Tinie, but I did 
 not quite hear you. My head aches; the
 
 294 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 sun SO dazzles on the Loch. Tell me over 
 again what you wish written, and I Avill do 
 it at once. I rather think I shall walk to 
 Dr. Reay's." 
 
 " Oh, don't Avrite the letter there. Pray, 
 pray don't telP the Reays anythuig about it. 
 She would tliink, and he would think " 
 
 " Tliink what ?" said Nuiian, attracted by 
 the degree of alarm expressed by his sister. 
 
 " I don't care — I don't care — not a jot! 
 The Professor may consider me what he 
 likes — a foolish little thing ' of the genus 
 Papillionacca,' as I heard him say. But I 
 don't choose that Miss Reay, knowing I have 
 refused Mr. MacCallum, should therefore 
 imagine — ^\vhat she had the insufferable im- 
 pertinence to tell me one day " 
 
 " More confessions ? Nay, wee thing ! 
 don't stammer. Let us have them !" 
 
 " She said I was trying — and you, too, in 
 your eagerness to get me married — that — 
 that I should be made her niece. There, 
 you have it now I No wonder I was in a 
 passion ; no wonder I have been playing all
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAaHLT. 295 
 
 sorts of wild games. Slie shall never think 
 I want to catch people that have all brains 
 and no heart — dry, musty, geological, old — " 
 
 " Nay, keep that foohsh httle head cool. 
 Nobody with any sense, certauily not Ken- 
 neth Reay himself, would ever dream of such 
 a ridiculous tlihig," said Ninian, trying to 
 reassume his ordinary manner, and to turn 
 liis mind to the things she was talking about. 
 But he heard them and answered tlu-ough a 
 mist; they made no impression upon liim. 
 Only once more he attempted to send away 
 Tinie, dismissing her with a smile and a jest. 
 
 " Go home, lassie, I will keep your 
 counsel. And don't get into more love- 
 labyrinths, for your sage elder brother to 
 have to dash in and rescue you. He might 
 get lost himself, you know." 
 
 " Oh, no fear ! Nothing would ever be- 
 wilder brother Niiiian," cried the blithe 
 creature, as she turned back and went sing- 
 ing along the shore of the sunny Gare-Loch. 
 
 Ninian shut his ears to the sound, so
 
 296 THE HEAD OF THE FAITILY. 
 
 mocking as it seemed. Evil, cruel thoughts 
 hovered round his heart; — it is so horrible 
 to see others making a light game of the 
 things which to us are life or death ! He 
 felt almost as if he were beginning to love 
 Ms yomig sister less. There she danced 
 over the sands — happy, fau', the future be- 
 fore her unclouded by a single care ; of a 
 nature so light that even love itself became 
 to her a toy, a plaything, to be taken up or 
 cast down just as she chose, without trou- 
 bling her happiness. While he 
 
 " Well 1 It might be all the same, if she 
 were dancing over her brother's heart, as she 
 danced over the sands. She would probably 
 heed it as little!" 
 
 So thought Ninian, and then despised 
 himself for the wickedness. He turned his 
 feet and fled, walking rapidly, dashmg over 
 rocks and through shallow inlets of tide, trying 
 to weary himself Perhaps calm would come 
 with exhaustion; or, as in the story of the 
 poor possessed one, which haunted his fancy
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 297 
 
 Strangely, " the devil would go out of Mm, 
 leaving liim half dead." 
 
 He seemed half dead indeed, when, late 
 in the afternoon, he came to the Professor's 
 door. It was one of those white staring houses 
 that glitter like rows of teeth along the 
 Helensburgh shore. As Ninian stood still, 
 there beat upon him the same dazzling 
 sun. He mshed it would rain, or that night 
 would fall: he could bear anything better 
 than having to walk perpetually under that 
 clear, relentless light of day. It seemed like 
 the life he would have henceforth to lead; 
 with all the loving eyes of his household 
 shining down upon him, entering, or trying 
 to enter mto his inmost soul, compelling him 
 to say, "It is warm, it is pleasant," when 
 all the while every ray would be burning 
 into his brain like fiery arrows. How Avouid 
 he ever endure it all? 
 
 But man can endure — ay, everything that 
 God sends. We never need quail under 
 burdens of His laying on; we may stagger 
 under them awhile, but they will not crush
 
 298 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 US. Nothing ever crushes a human soul 
 but the weight of its own sin, or of another's 
 dearer than itself. And duty, like a sort of 
 inner mail, supports while it compresses ; so 
 that often the man walks more upright and 
 firm for the iron bands that tighten round his 
 breast ; while over all flows the outer robe, 
 smooth and fair in all eyes — save those of 
 pitying angels. 
 
 Ninian Graeme felt cheered, when his 
 friend Kenneth's cordial grasp awaited him 
 at the door. Despite Miss Reay's frowns, 
 the two men, establishing themselves at the 
 fire, began to converse and argue as men will 
 do and can do — using their strong brains as 
 a defence against their hearts. 
 
 " I declare I am tired of your ' ologies' and 
 stuff, Mr. Gr^me ; you will sui'ely agree with 
 me that my nephew ought now to have a com- 
 plete hoHday, for, except the few times he 
 has been with me to your cottage, he has 
 done nothmg but work." 
 
 " I am sure, aunt," began the unhappy 
 Professor,
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 299 
 
 " Now, don't say that work is good for yon, 
 and don't say that you can't live without 
 books. My dear Kenneth. I have proved to 
 you youi^ errors over and over again ; I am 
 sure if vou had not me to take care of vou, 
 you woidd not hve a year." 
 
 The Professor sighed, as if under such 
 circumstances he did not much mind about 
 it. He looked altogether so broken-spirited 
 and melancholv, that Xioian forsot himseK 
 in condng to the rescue of his friend. 
 
 Blessed thiners are the small charities of 
 life, which throw us out of ourselves, our 
 cares, and struesles, and draw us tenderlv 
 back within the circle of human interest ! 
 !Mr. GiTeme, constrainino; himself to civilitv 
 towards the Lady of the Tongue, inter- 
 posino; between her and her much-endurins 
 nephew, tryuig to lure the silent Kenneth 
 into the only sort of conversation in which 
 he seemed to dehght, began to look and feel 
 somethiufr like liimself. 
 
 " Deal' me, I tliink your sisters ought to 
 see after you and mind that you don't take
 
 300 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 sucli awful walks again. You quite fright- 
 ened me when you came in, Mr. Greeme. I 
 have a great mind to go over to-morrow 
 to tell Miss Grceme all about it, and give 
 her a long lecture concerning you for the 
 futui'e." 
 
 " You are very kind, Miss Eeay," said 
 Ninian, abruptly; "but it will be too late. 
 My holiday is over. I leave for Edinburgh 
 the day after to-morrow." 
 
 " Oh, what a pity! How sudden! It is 
 only a few days since your sister Tinie was 
 here with that delicate, pretty little friend 
 or cousin of yours, — wliich is she ?" 
 
 " Neither. My ward." 
 
 " You are rather young for a guardian — 
 
 and sometimes these things end Well, 
 
 as I was saying, your sister and Miss Ansted 
 thought you would stay a whole month, and 
 they seemed so pleased. Surely you must 
 have changed your mind very suddenly. 
 Business, I suppose ? Such very particular 
 business is it ? Anything which sisters don't 
 exactly understand, eh ?"
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. , 301 
 
 Ninian muttered some brief reply. The 
 woman chafed him past endurance. He 
 thanked Heaven that none of the girls 
 at home were gifted with a tongue ! Yet 
 there his poor friend sat, the picture of 
 patience, toasting his knees at the fire, with 
 a dull, tired aspect, like that of one stupified 
 to sleep by the clack of a mill. 
 
 " I half thought of asking for a bed here," 
 said he, in an under tone. " But, on conside- 
 ration, I will go back to the Gare-Loch. 
 Could you not come with me T 
 
 "Wait till she's gone to bed; she always 
 goes early. We can start then !" 
 
 Mnian was inclined to smile at the Pro- 
 fessor's frightened look, but he kept his coun- 
 tenance ; only thinking, as he himself grew 
 restless under the perpetual click-clack of 
 Miss Eeay, that there were minor evils hard 
 to bear, and that after all there was great 
 peace by his own fireside. 
 
 The two friends started, walking through 
 a night which had now grown blustering, 
 gloomy, and cold. Across the point of Eue 
 came sweeping the mountain wind, curling
 
 302 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 the Locli here and there into specks of 
 white foam, that ghttered while everything 
 else was dark. The Professor walked on, 
 stridins^ with his long le^i^s — sometimes silent 
 — sometimes talking in his solemn, dreamy 
 way, of the appearance of the heavens, the 
 meteorology of the season, and other topics 
 pertaining thereto. He never descended to 
 mundane matters at all. And so, he walk- 
 ing with his head directed towards the 
 stars, and his thoughts among them — Ninian 
 trusting to him for guidance, and heeding 
 little whither they went — it chanced that 
 after an hour's wandering they found them- 
 selves again nearing the lights of Helens- 
 burcrh. 
 
 " This mil never do. We must have 
 missed our way, and my legs are fairly worn 
 out. Come, Reay, you and I have no fear 
 of the Clyde by night or by day. Suppose 
 we take a boat at the Rue, and I'll row 
 you up the Loch ?" 
 
 The Professor was quite satisfied mth this 
 — his only terror seemed to be going home. 
 Ere long he had placed himself at the stern
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 303 
 
 of tlie boat, and lay contemplating a dawn- 
 ing Aurora Borealis, by tlie light of which 
 his face was seen wearing a look of such 
 sublime content that Ninian positively envied 
 him. 
 
 " You are a happy man, Kenneth. No 
 worldly cares move you. Nature is your 
 mother, and Science your mistress." 
 
 " I never knew any mother but the one, 
 and no mistress will ever smile on me ex- 
 cept the other," said the Professor, with that 
 quiet sadness which sometimes was percep- 
 tible in his manner. And then he turned 
 once more to watch his Aurora. 
 
 Ninian used all his strength to urge the 
 boat along, for it was late, and he knew 
 Lindsay's fears of old. Perhaps also he re- 
 membered that whenever he had chanced 
 to be out longer than usual, two fair eyes — 
 not his sister's — were always lifted up to 
 meet him with an anxious inquir}'. He 
 thoudit of them — but it was "with a sort of 
 terror; the vague terror which had of late 
 seized him, lest by any possibility — im-
 
 304 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 possible now — in the future wliicli must be 
 jie himself might prove not the only sacri- 
 fice. Far over the waters he seemed to see 
 them — the once child-like eyes, in which he 
 sometimes fancied was da^vning a new ex- 
 pression. Most hard, most cruel appeared 
 the fate which made the hope of requited 
 love, that would have been another man's 
 joy, his own most bitter dread. 
 
 Almost fearuig to near his home, he yet 
 rowed on, puttmg forth all his might against 
 the waves. But the wind rose suddenly, 
 and the quiet Gare-Loch became a tem- 
 pestuous sea, wherein the little boat was 
 tossed about like a feather. Ninian paused 
 upon his almost useless oars, and looked 
 round with some uneasiness. 
 
 " I fear this was a mad freak, Reay; my 
 strength is almost gone, and you cannot take 
 an oar." 
 
 The poor votary of science shook his head. 
 He had never studied anything so merely 
 physical as rowing. " If it were a matter of 
 navigation, great circle-sailing for instance 

 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 305 
 
 said lie, with a helpless, apologetic self- 
 defence that was half comical 
 
 "No, no; gi^eat circle-sailing would not as- 
 sist 3^011 in getting safe through the Gare- 
 Loch. I must trust to myself alone — under 
 Heaven," Ninian added, more softly, as there 
 came upon him the grave reality that they 
 were in no little danger; that boats had some- 
 times been lost on the Loch in wild nights 
 such as this. 
 
 " Heaven forbid," muttered he, struck by 
 the fear, not of being drowned — he had 
 much of that physical coiu-age wliich l^raves 
 death — but of all the miseries his death would 
 bring. "Those children— my God! those 
 children!" he thought; and all his brotherly 
 love came back into his heart, until he won- 
 dered how it had been temporarily driven 
 thenco — how he could ever have mshed, as 
 he had done not many hours before, that 
 Heaven would release him, Avithout sin, from 
 the burden of life — a life so precious, so in- 
 dispensable to them. 
 
 " Kenneth, I fear I cannot hold out much 
 
 VOL. I. X
 
 306 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 longer," said he, gravely. "If the worst 
 comes to the worst, and we should never 
 reach home " 
 
 The Professor, with all his wisdom, was 
 timid as a child. He started up in blank 
 dismay, making the boat reel beneath his 
 long, gaunt frame. 
 
 " Keep still, or we shall both be lost," 
 shouted Nmian; at the terror of which 
 warmng. Dr. Keay crouched down at the 
 bottom of the boat, without another word. 
 Once or twice he wrung Ms hands, and 
 Ninian heard him mutter something about 
 " my books, my books !" and " she'll have 
 themj" but it was no time for offeruig conso- 
 lation. With all his strength the young 
 man rowed on, as if a life was in every stroke, 
 for so he knew it was. Each minute he felt 
 himself growing weaker and weaker, while 
 his fingers were almost stifiening over the 
 oars. The heavy waves he fought through 
 drenched him continually, for he had thrown 
 his coat to the poor Professor, who, with his
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 307 
 
 inactive habits, always suffered extremely 
 from cold. 
 
 " Reay, your eyes are used to the night. 
 Can you fnid out whereabouts we are ? I 
 cannot see anything, it is so black." 
 
 It Avas, indeed. They might have been 
 in the open sea, so far and shadowy seemed 
 the mountains and the shore. 
 
 Kenneth half rose, and sat down again. 
 He was thoroughly bewildered. Mechani- 
 cally he looked up, muttering something 
 about "the pole-star," but the sky was all 
 one gloom. " If I could take soundings 
 now," added he, with a dim notion that he 
 was somewhere out on the Atlantic 
 
 u 
 
 If you could take an oar, my good 
 fellow, it would be of more use in saving 
 our lives," said Ninian, his patience nearly 
 faiHng him. " Well, ten minutes more will 
 decide one way or the other, for I am getting 
 as weak as a child — Heavens ! there it 
 goes !" 
 
 The force of the water had dashed one 
 of the oars out of his half-numbed hands. 
 
 x2
 
 308 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 " One chance less — well, God's will be 
 done !" And even liis brave heart quailed, 
 as, all need for exertion gone, he sat upright, 
 rocking in the unguided boat. As a last 
 effort, he tried to scull with the remaining 
 oar, but his strength was too much ex- 
 hausted. There had been daring and excite- 
 ment in the struggle with the waves. It 
 was a horrible thing to have to sit still and 
 be drowned. 
 
 Despairingly he looked round, and, as if 
 his eyes had gained an unnatural sharpness 
 of vision, he saw the outline of the shore. 
 They were not two dozen boats' lengths 
 from the httle quay of stones, where day 
 after day the young crew had merrily em- 
 barked, and merrily landed. Nay, further on, 
 shining through the blank night, was a light. 
 
 " That must be our house," said Ninian, 
 hoarsely. " They are sitting up for me — 
 poor things ! If they only knew ! Can you 
 swim ?" shouted he to Eeay, with a wild 
 desire of daring anything, could he only 
 reach the shore alive.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 309 
 
 But the Professor was no Leander; in 
 fact, as regarded all manly exercises, he had 
 never made use of his body at all — only his 
 mind. 
 
 "Try!" pursued Ninian, in his uncon- 
 trollable lono;ing. For, whenever he looked 
 shorewards, he saw in fancy not only the 
 light, but beneath it Lindsay's face, and 
 Hope's; they usually sat up together. " Try ! 
 Leap out, and I'll support you. I feel strong 
 now. Kouse up, Kenneth ; is not one's life 
 worth saving ?" 
 
 " Not mine. Nobody will miss me," was 
 the only answer the poor Professor made. 
 All his wisdom — all his learning, were not 
 equal to that one simple, lowly, household 
 bond, which makes a man hold his life 
 precious because it is precious to another. 
 
 Ninian heard, with something of pity, 
 even remorse. He sat down again with a 
 muttered, " God help us !" and let the boat 
 be drifted on by the tide. 
 
 "Are you away?" said Kenneth, lift- 
 ing his head from his knees. " Take your
 
 310 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 chance — never mind me — I'll stay in the 
 boat." 
 
 " And be picked up, dead or alive, some- 
 where about the Kyles of Bute to-morrow 
 morning. That is, if the tide is going out. 
 Otherwise, we may drift ashore. Cheer up, 
 old friend; we'll hold out together some- 
 how !" And Ninian stretched out his hand 
 in the darkness, with a grasp that would 
 have given strength and courage anywhere. 
 Not a word more was said on either side. 
 
 The boat rocked on — whether shoreward 
 or not, they could not tell. That dim light 
 flittered — now near — now distant — then 
 vanished. It migjht have been a mere chance 
 — the moving of a candle — the waving of a 
 tree between; but it seemed to shut out 
 hope and home. Even Ninian's courage 
 ebbed ; drawing in his useless oar, he 
 leaned his face on his hands, and tried to 
 say those words which the cry of human 
 love drowns so often — " Thi/ will be done.'' 
 
 It might have been minutes or hours — 
 both seem alike at such a crisis — when he
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 311 
 
 felt the boat's keel grate against a rock. She 
 had drifted ashore, near the head of the 
 Loch. 
 
 " Thank God!" he said, as he had never 
 said so fervently before. Life and strength 
 came into Mm again; he leaped np, and, 
 with his one oar, pushed and tugged until 
 he had sjained a landino;. "Halloo!" he 
 called to the Professor, who lay seemingly 
 indifferent, at the bottom of the boat. 
 " We're all safe now ; a run along the shore, 
 and by daybreak we'll be at home — at 
 home !" 
 
 He shouted out the word, and then 
 kept whispering it to himself; it was so 
 sweet — so sweet ! He dragged Kenneth 
 along;, walking; as if he had never known 
 exhaustion; not once stopping till he came 
 to his own gate. There he paused. 
 
 "We'll not tell them all, Eeay, not to- 
 night; we'll say we lost our way — you 
 know." 
 
 At the sound of their footsteps there was
 
 312 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 a cry from some watchers within. Hearing 
 it, all Ninian's strength left him ; he staggered 
 rather than walked to the house door. 
 
 " Don't be frightened, children ! I am 
 quite safe." And he sank on the sofa, un- 
 able to speak another word. The children 
 clung round him — at least, Lindsay and Ti- 
 nie; the others were gone to bed. 
 
 " His coat is all wet, and his hair. He 
 has been drowned ! Tm sure he has been 
 drowned." 
 
 " Almost — not quite, that is — don't be 
 alarmed, Miss Christina," said the Professor, 
 stalking in with his white ghostly face. He 
 had at last recovered his reasoning powers 
 and his tong;ue. 
 
 Tinie gave another little scream, and 
 rushed up to him. " You, too ! — oh, what 
 lias been the matter with you both ?" 
 
 Whether Kenneth objected on principle 
 to falsification, or whether he thought past 
 danger would win for him another of those 
 looks of interest and tenderness, certain
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 313 
 
 it was that he forgot Ninian's injunction, and 
 told the whole adventure to the shudderino; 
 Tinie. 
 
 " But you see, Miss Christina, your brother 
 is come back alive and safe. And so have 
 I — not that that signifies much," he added, 
 in a pathetic humility. 
 
 " It does signify. I am so glad — so glad," 
 answered Tinie, holding bis two great hands, 
 her face glowing through real tears. But 
 before he could answer, she had flitted 
 away, and was aiding Lindsay to restore her 
 brother. 
 
 Ninian lay some minutes not exactly in a 
 swoon, but in something like it. He had 
 just consciousness enough to hear the voices 
 round him, and to miss among them one 
 voice, softer than any of his sisters'. He 
 opened his eyes. No; the child was not 
 there. Yes, surely she was ! A white figure 
 had stolen in so quietly that nobody noticed 
 it at first. 
 
 " Hope, my dear !" said Lindsay, " 1 
 thought I sent you to bed an hour ago, and
 
 314 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 you have not even undressed. Go back — 
 you will be ill — do go." 
 
 Still, slie never moved from the foot of 
 the sofa, but stood looking at Ninian, her 
 face perfectly blanched with fear. He smiled, 
 and held out his hand. She came and 
 clasped it, not weeping, as Tinie did, but 
 with a deep tenderness which she did not 
 even try to hide. And, turn where he would, 
 Ninian felt upon him her eyes, full of that 
 unconscious girlish affection which a breath, 
 a word, might doubtless awaken into love — 
 a woman's love. 
 
 Oh, bitter, bitter strait, that what might 
 have been his joy and crown was now an 
 agony, a temptation, a terror, a thought to 
 be smothered or wrestled with, as if it were 
 an evil tiling ! 
 
 He did wrestle with it. Long after the 
 excitement of the household had subsided, 
 he, having sent them all away with smiles 
 and caresses, lay alone in his chamber, to 
 commune with himself and be still. 
 
 A strong, clear miud he had ever; ay,
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 315 
 
 even amidst the rack of conflicting passions, 
 whose force he now learned for the first 
 time. He tried to put the case before him 
 as though it were another man's, and to rea- 
 son upon it calmly, if possible. 
 
 Supposing he and Hope loved one another 
 — it was best to seize that delirious fancy first, 
 and struggle with it — what would be the 
 result? To marry, and add the cares of 
 marriage to his other duties, was, as he had 
 known from the time of his father's death, 
 utterly impracticable. Then, if being be- 
 trothed, they waited until his brothers were 
 settled in the world, and his sisters wedded, 
 by that time he would be almost an old 
 man. He was old even now, while Hope 
 was a mere child compared with him. Her 
 love might change ; she might feel her pro- 
 mise a burden ; or, if not, what right had he 
 to win that which he could not claim ? 
 
 He had not won her heart yet; her open 
 affection forbade that fear — or joy, for so it 
 seemed alternately. If he were never to let 
 her see the anguished passion of his own, she 
 would go away, keeping always a tender
 
 316 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 reverence for him; but still free to love. 
 For he discerned that hers was the nature 
 of many, nay, of most women, gentle and 
 good; loving — not with that rare ideal devo- 
 tion, pure as the tenderness of an angel, yet 
 strong and self-sustaining as the passion of a 
 man — but with the mild sweetness which is 
 ever ready to answer love with love, so that 
 the first who worthily woos is almost sure 
 to ^Yin. 
 
 Thus, if he let her go, would Hope pro- 
 bably be won. The thought was to him such 
 frightful agony, that for a moment he felt as if 
 he could tear asunder all ties — all duties — 
 snatch the child, and flv with her to some 
 new world, where she should be to him 
 instead of brothers, sisters, land, or home, 
 — in the stead of everything but con- 
 science. 
 
 That, at least, would never be stilled — 
 never ! He knew he should continually hear 
 it, and shudder — ay, even on his wife's breast 
 — as though it were a cry like that which 
 haunted Cain: " Where are thy brethren?" 
 
 — Six souls that loved and trusted him.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 317 
 
 balanced against one ! Perhaps, even had the 
 sacrifice included not himself alone but Hope, 
 it ought to be made. Now, when Hope did 
 not yet love him — when, if he kept firm to his 
 iron will of self-renunciation, she never might 
 love him — Yes! the rio-ht course must lie 
 there. 
 
 " When two paths of duty bewilder thee^ 
 and thou knowest not which is right to 
 follow, choose that which to thijself is most 
 full of thorns."" 
 
 This wise, stern saying, knelled itself all 
 nidit into Ninian's soul. Towards morning; 
 he slept, and dreamt that he was in a little 
 boat with Hope — she looking at him with 
 sad, sweet face, pale as that he had lately 
 seen, but more tender and love-lorn — seem- 
 ing to say, mutely, that no sin towards 
 kindred was greater than that of breaking a 
 fond woman's heart. Then, he thought, the 
 great waves of the Loch rose and rose, rolling 
 over them both. He snatched his darling, 
 covering her eyes and mouth with wild 
 kisses — lover's kisses — such as he had never
 
 318 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 dared to press there before. And then they 
 sank down — down — to somethinc^ that he 
 knew was death — yet which was calm, and 
 without fear. Until at last they wakened 
 together in the heavenly mansions, where 
 there is " neither marrying nor giving in 
 marriage;" but all love becomes pure as 
 that of the angels of God. 
 
 He woke. Weakened by his lono; strufrde 
 of body and mind, he turned his head on th^ 
 pillow, and wept like a child. 
 
 And all the while, in the next chamber 
 Hope lay sleeping in Tmie's arms, or talking 
 with her the pleasant nonsense that affec- 
 tionate girls use — all unconscious of the 
 strong heart writhing for her sake. 
 
 Jest and earnest — man's mere sport and 
 woman's faith — woman's folly and man's 
 despair — God knows how often such con- 
 trasts exist in the world !
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 319 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Two or three more days passed in the 
 cottage by the Gare-Loch. Happy days ! 
 halcyon days, wherein morning brought 
 night, and night waned into morning, and 
 none wished the hours slower or faster. 
 Ninian, somewhat ading after that day — 
 the whole story of which none but him- 
 self knew — was kept at home, under ten- 
 der guardianship, '• a giant bound with 
 flowers," Tinie said. She, being a good 
 deal humbled and subdued by the affair of 
 unfortunate Mr. MacCallum (in whose dis- 
 appearance the boys greatly gloried), was 
 on her best behaviour with eveiybody, 
 even with the Professor. He, worthy man,
 
 320 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 disported himself in her smiles like c. por- 
 poise in the sun, continually rising out of 
 his native element — his deep sea of science 
 — to look up at her with a sigh of gratifica- 
 tion, which Edmund declared was a sound 
 exactly like the " pech" of the porpoises in the 
 Clyde. "Whereupon Reuben used to inveigh 
 warmly against such ridicule used towards 
 so learned a man, whose only fault in the 
 young cynic's eyes was that he condescended 
 to notice a stupid, childish thing like Tinie. 
 
 It was one morning at breakfast, that 
 Ninian, in the quiet way with which he 
 always " made up his mind," observed, 
 " Children, I must leave you, and go home 
 to-morrow." 
 
 " To-morrow !" There was a general cry 
 of complaint ; Tinie's being the loudest, and 
 Hope's the most pathetic. Lindsay ventured 
 to hint that if business were not very press- 
 ino; he need not be uncomfortable about the 
 deserted house. Miss Reay, lately vanishing 
 to Edinburgh in considerable dudgeon, had 
 consented to look after old Katie and The
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 321 
 
 Gowans. If Ninian could but stay — ^just a 
 few days more. 
 
 " I cannot; it is impossible!" 
 
 " But you are not looking quite yourself. 
 You would be better for a holiday." 
 
 " No, no; don't ask me. I cannot do it," 
 answered lie. restlessly; and Ninian said no 
 more. But many a time during the morn- 
 ing he found her quiet eyes fixed on his 
 face. Once, when all the rest were down 
 by the shore, she came to him as he sat 
 writing. 
 
 " Ninian, suppose we all Avent home to- 
 gether ? I can easily manage it, if you 
 would rather have it so." 
 
 "I? What made you think any such 
 thing ?" 
 
 " Because you looked so dull — so melan- 
 choly, when Tinie spoke of this being your 
 last day with us at the Clyde." 
 
 " Nonsense. I am anxious to go home. 
 I have so much work before me. Besides, 
 how do you know that I am not quite glad 
 to get rid of you all ?" 
 
 VOL. I. Y
 
 322 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 It was a mere jest, but it did not sound 
 exactly like his jests of old. Lindsay looked 
 grave, ceased to speak, and let him go on 
 with his writing. They were business let- 
 ters — a tolerable number. He finished 
 them ; threw them on one side with a weary 
 air, and sat idle, his head upon his hand. 
 
 " Is there anything the matter with you, 
 Ninian ?" 
 
 " The matter ! Nothing at all. I wish, 
 sister, you would not fidget yourself and 
 me. Indeed, it is unnecessary." He spoke, 
 not angiily, but still not as he used to speak. 
 The minute afterwards he repented. " You 
 see I am so idle here — I shall end by get- 
 tino; cross. I almost think I have been 
 cross lately. Tinie positively accused me 
 of it this morning." 
 
 " Tinie is a thouo;htless lassie — enough to 
 vex anybody. If you did say a hasty word 
 sometimes, she ought not to mind it." 
 
 " Which implies that I do say it. Tell 
 me plainly. You don't think I am unkind 
 to these children?" said he, with a look of 
 great anxiety.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 323 
 
 " Never ! You could not be unkird. But 
 I have thought now and then " 
 
 " What ! have you, too, found something 
 to blame me with ?" he sharply interrupted. 
 " Well, tell me, and I'll try to alter any- 
 thing in me that gives you offence." 
 
 " Ninian!" 
 
 " Forgive me, I never ought to say one 
 hard word to you. But you see, your 
 brother is not quite such an angel as you 
 all imagine. It is a hard world, and he 
 has to fight hardly through it. Business 
 now troubles me. The children need not 
 
 know this, which is the " the truth, he 
 
 was about to say, but stopped. He knew it 
 was not the truth. 
 
 " Yes, I understand; I have thought so 
 more than once, and said so to Hope, when 
 she fancied you were vexed with her." 
 
 " Have I been harsh to her ?" 
 
 " Nay — not harsh ; but you have seemed 
 to take less notice of her. And she is a 
 sensitive little thing, with such a tender 
 
 y2
 
 324 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 heart, though no one would have imagined 
 that, so frozen up as she appeared at first, 
 so quiet as she is even now. I often fancy 
 nobody knows that child but me, and I 
 am sure none of you love her so well." 
 
 Ninian sat down, shading his eyes. After 
 awhile he said, with a shadow of a smile, 
 " You make me out to be something very 
 cruel, Lindsay. Is the child really hurt ? 
 Does she think me unkind to her ?" 
 
 " Not unkind — only somewliat cold. And 
 she feels it the more, because you made 
 such a pet of her when she was ill, and 
 ever since then, until the last few days. I 
 tell her she must not mind ; you cannot 
 always be thinking of a child like her, 
 though I am sure you love her as much as 
 ever you did." 
 
 Ninian started a little, and glanced at 
 Lindsay. But Our Sister, the simplest of all 
 women, who had seen nothing of life beyond 
 her own circle, and had read no hearts save 
 her own, whose brief story had ended long
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 325 
 
 ago, spoke with most unsuspicious, uncon- 
 scious air. He saw that. Oh! with what 
 thankfuhiess ! 
 
 " You were quite right there. I do 
 love her as well, I think, as I love Tinie. 
 You may tell her so, if she speaks to you 
 ag^ain." . 
 
 " And you will show it a little more — take 
 just a little more notice of her," pleaded the 
 gentle Lindsay, who could not bear to see 
 the least shadow creeping among those she 
 loved. " She is a foolish little creature to 
 imagine such nonsense: but whenever you 
 
 CD > d 
 
 look grave, or speak to her differently than 
 usual, she fancies you do not like her on 
 account of her father." 
 
 " What must I do — what can I do ?" mut- 
 tered Ninian, in despair. But there was 
 that gaze which, from one or other of his lov- 
 ing ones, was^ ever upon him, at times driv- 
 ing him almost wild. He must meet it, and 
 did so. 
 
 " You know, Lindsay, that this is untrue, 
 and altogether a mistake of Hope's. You
 
 326 THE HEAD OF THE FA^HLY. 
 
 must put the thought entirely out of her 
 mind. Speak to her at once." 
 
 " Why should not you, brother ? It would 
 come so much better from you." 
 
 " I cannot — I cannot ! I mean," added 
 he, quickly, " that I am getting too old to 
 deal with girls' fancies. I am quite a gruff, 
 elderly man, you know. It is time to give 
 up having pets among young people, if I 
 use them so badly that even my sister takes 
 their part against me." 
 
 Lindsay looked up in blank astonishment 
 at his strange tone. " Is it true, then, 
 Ninian ? Are you really annoyed with poor 
 little Hope, or with me ? Then, indeed, I 
 will not teaze you any more." 
 
 With a smile, in which she tried to hide 
 all pain, but could not, she gathered up her 
 knittino; and was leavino; the room. But 
 Ninian put his hand on her shoulder. 
 
 " Sister I I think it was I who teazed 
 you ! I am indeed getting as cross as Tinie 
 said. But you don't know, Lindsay — you 
 don't know 1"
 
 THE HEAD OE THE FAMILY. 327 
 
 He looked in her face — his elder sister — 
 his mother's only daughter — she, from whose 
 childish remembrance had come his sole 
 knowledge of a tie lost at his birth — she, 
 who had tried, even in her girlhood, to 
 be grave, and tender, and motherly over 
 him; who, as he grew up to manhood, had 
 done a harder thing, gradually sinking the 
 superiority of eldership — becoming only a 
 sister — yielding to his stronger mind, and 
 taking beside him silently the proper — the 
 woman's place. But he felt at times, and 
 did now, as if he should like to go back to 
 the old days when he — still a boy — used to 
 come and hide his face in his elder sister's 
 lap, telling her all his troubles. There was 
 a subdued, childhke pathos in his voice, as 
 once more he said, " Oh ! Lindsay, you 
 don't know !" 
 
 She turned in great alarm ; so much, that 
 he knew he must unsay his words, change 
 his look, and go back to the former ways. 
 
 " You don't know," he added, taking up 
 the words, " how tired out I was with this
 
 328 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 year's anxiety. Besides, I have not felt 
 quite well, I own. ' 
 
 " Poor Ninian ! I must take better care 
 of you," said Lindsay, in a voice more like 
 the fondness she used towards him when he 
 was a boy than the quiet deference with 
 which she always treated him now. " I 
 wish you would let me go home with you 
 to-morrow." 
 
 " What ! and leave our young flock to 
 guard themselves ? We should have a 
 second edition of the MacCallum affair, ibr 
 certain." 
 
 Our Sister looKed serious. "I had not 
 thought of that. Oh.". Ninian!" she said, 
 with a sort of despairing sigh, " what a pity 
 our young people will grow up ! Whatever 
 will we do with them all ? There's Tinie — 
 such a wild, gay creature ! — and Hope, get- 
 ting prettier every day, except that she is 
 such a child still. And I don't think she 
 will take to Tinie's thoughtless ways." 
 
 " Indeed !" 
 
 " No," continued Lindsay, waxing more
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 329 
 
 tender over her favourite as Ninian seemed 
 to wax cold. " She has a warm heart ; she 
 will trifle with no one's feelings. Heaven 
 grant that no one may ever trifle with 
 hers." 
 
 "Amen !" said Ninian, beneath his breath. 
 He felt strong to do as he had willed. He 
 was one of those who can cut off a right 
 arm, and pluck out a right eye, and so enter 
 maimed into heaven. 
 
 It was a dull day, the last of Ninian's stay, 
 though he tried to enliven them all ; and at 
 last, seeing his levity disregarded, and his 
 jokes melting heavily on the air, proposed a 
 sail up the river — a sort of leave-taking of 
 the Clyde. 
 
 " Not in the little boat," cried Hope. " Oh ! 
 Mr. Graeme, you will not put yom^self into 
 such danger again ?" 
 
 He looked once, only once, at her anxious 
 face, and said, " Still timid, Hope ? You 
 will never do for a Scottish lassie. But 
 come, children all ! we will take the steam- 
 boat to Rothesay and back."
 
 330 THE HEAD OF THE FA^nLT. 
 
 They did so, except Lindsay and Edmund ; 
 calling for the Professor on their way — much 
 to Tinie's objection, who said he was such a 
 queer looking man, and either sat dumb or 
 talked so loud and lengthily, that she was 
 quite ashamed to be seen in public with him. 
 Which feehng probably accounted for the fact 
 that she went and hid herself behind " the 
 man at the wheel," until Kenneth Keay, look- 
 ing for her in great terror, was induced to sit 
 there and converse; when she listened, mock- 
 ingly, yet still she listened, to a learned dis- 
 course on the peculiar currents of the Clyde, 
 the supposed origin of the Kyles of Bute, or 
 the geological formation of the Great and 
 Lesser Cumbrays. 
 
 It was a still autumn afternoon, just dull 
 enough to lay dark blue shadows on the hills 
 that stood grand and cold around the Holy- 
 Loch, and afterwards breaking into just sun 
 enough to show the two pale ghost-like peaks 
 of Arran lying on the horizon like a cloud. 
 
 Ninian stood by himself, watching the line 
 of either shore, the views chansincr mo- 
 
 i DO
 
 THE HEAD OF THE EAMILY. 331 
 
 mently fairer at every change. He thought 
 of his happy days here — happier than "any 
 since his boyhood — and of the Httle dark 
 office in Edinburgh where he would be on 
 the morrow. It would look darker than ever 
 now. He beijan to wonder when he should 
 have another hoHday, and somehow, by a 
 concatenation of ideas impossible to account 
 for, he remembered an old tale which his 
 grave father had used to tell, years ago, of 
 the only real hohday he ever had in his 
 youth. It was when he brought his bride — 
 Ninian's mother — to spend their honeymoon 
 by the Clyde. The son — he that now looked 
 on the same hills and the same rivers — 
 thought how his parents had looked on them 
 once, with eyes shining joy into each other. 
 He had heard his father and mother were a 
 loving couple. But it would not do to dwell 
 on these things. He turned and gazed down 
 in the seething, foamy waves that danced in 
 the wake of the engmes, until he felt all 
 dazzled. 
 
 " It will make your head-ache if you
 
 332 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 look down at the waves in that way," said 
 a voice gentle as ever, but a little more hesi- 
 tating and shy than it had been a week ago. 
 He had left Hope talking merrily with the 
 twins, and it quite startled him to see her 
 at his side. He tried, but could not move 
 away from that irank smile, that voice of 
 innocent tenderness. He thought, as he did 
 sometimes, in the horribly conflicting moods 
 of his mind, that perhaps his stern conscien- 
 tiousness was only egregious vanity, and 
 that there was no need to be so oruarded 
 with the child. 
 
 So he let her lean beside him and talk, 
 even laying his hand on her shoulder, in 
 his old habit. She was such a little thing 
 standing by his side. 
 
 " Well, Hope, when you grow older, and 
 see all sorts of beautiful places, perhaps even 
 go to America " 
 
 " You will speak of my going to America; 
 you have done so once or twice lately. In- 
 deed, I don't want " She stopped ab- 
 ruptly, possibly with the silent pain that she
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 333 
 
 always seemed to feel on alluding to lier 
 father. Ninian's heart yearned over her, 
 but it, too, was dumb. Hope said at last, 
 " And when I do see all these places, Avhat 
 then ?" 
 
 " You must remember your first acquaint- 
 ance with my beautiful Clyde ; it is my own 
 river, for I was born, and my mother died, 
 there." And he pointed to the town of 
 Dunoon, with its curved bay, its Castle- 
 hill, and the wooded hills rising above 
 the pretty town, now growing dim behind 
 them. 
 
 " Yes, I know. Lindsay told me as we 
 passed," said Hope, her sweet face sadden- 
 ing, so easily touched is youth. She drew 
 closer to Ninian, as if, despite the long in- 
 terval of years, he still needed sympathy — 
 women do so love to play the comforter. 
 But he did not speak, and his countenance 
 was blank and hard, even though he was 
 looking across the river to his own birth- 
 place, — his mother's grave. Perhaps he was 
 thinking — we all have such thoughts at
 
 334 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 times — that it was a pity he had ever come 
 into the weary world at all. 
 
 Hope, standing beside him, sighed. 
 
 " What do you sigh for, little one ?" said 
 he, with a faint mockery of his old familiar 
 tone. " Am I too grave for you ? Had you 
 not better run back to the children ?" 
 
 " No ; unless you had rather I went away. 
 Is it so ?" 
 
 For his life he could not have withstood 
 the pained, beseeching voice. " Come, my 
 child, we may never have another sail down 
 the Clyde. Stay here, and we will look out 
 to2rether." 
 
 So, drawing her arm in his, they stood for 
 a long; time. 
 
 " Mr. Gramme," Hope began at last. She 
 had always addressed him thus, of course 
 not saying "Brother," as the rest did, and 
 never di^eaming of the presumption of calling 
 him " Ninian." 
 
 " Well, Hope, I hear. Your wee flxce 
 seems burdened with some secret. If so, 
 out with it."
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 335 
 
 " I am afraid." She hesitated, and her 
 colour came and went so fast that Niniau felt 
 a painful fear. 
 
 " Any more of Tinie's wild doings ?" 
 asked he, uttering something near, but not 
 exactly his thought. " Another MacCal- 
 lum, I suppose ? — they seem to grow on 
 every hedge. Has Tinie been putting her 
 nonsense into vour head too ?" 
 
 " Oh, no I Do not be angry ! Tinie does, 
 indeed, tell me everything ; but I always tell 
 her, too, where I think she is wrong. I 
 could not help that affair of Mr. MacCallum, 
 but bitterly it grieved me. I would not 
 have done such a thing for the whole world!" 
 
 No, she would not. Her eyes, the mirror 
 of her heart, spoke that. There was in her 
 little of firmness, less of passion, but in all 
 she felt she was sincere. Ninian's old terror 
 awoke. Agonised lest, in years to come, he 
 mif^ht do her wrong, he almost wished that 
 instead of her own sweet, simple, loving self, 
 she had been more like Tinie. 
 
 He answered her in a grave, guardian-
 
 336 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 like tone. " I hope, my dear child, that 
 wlienever your time for these things comes, 
 you will treat me as you should treat your 
 father, were he with you, and tell me all 
 your mind." 
 
 " Of course I should. It would be but 
 right, you know." She blushed a little, but 
 looked up straight in his face. Hitherto at 
 least, she had evidently nothing to hide. 
 He ought to have been satisfied and glad. 
 But was he ? Oh ! strange contradiction of 
 human nature ! At the very knowledge 
 in which his conscience rejoiced, his weak 
 heart recoiled in pain. He did not speak 
 again for many minutes. 
 
 "Mr. Grasme," once more began Hope, 
 trembling beneath her desperate persever- 
 ance, " still I have not said what I wanted 
 to say to you." 
 
 '• Say on, then." 
 
 " I — I have been thinking of myself a 
 great deal lately." 
 
 " That is something new," he answered, 
 with much tenderness. The truth of his speech
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 337 
 
 Tv^as proved by the fact that she never even 
 noticed it. 
 
 " And the result is, I want to do as my 
 father said — I want to be a governess." 
 This declaration, Avhich had apparently been 
 weighing down her poor little heart for some 
 minutes, came out at last, and left her per- 
 fectly frightened at her own darins;. 
 
 Ninian, whatever warfare he felt within 
 him, resorted as ever to liis only support, 
 ambush, and shield — silence. 
 
 " Ai"e you angry with me ? — have I said 
 anything wrong ? — or " — the innocent trou- 
 ble would find its way at last — " do you care 
 for me less than you used to do ?" 
 
 " My dear," said Ninian, with sad, grave 
 voice, " Lindsay told me an. you have 
 fancied lately, and I told her to assure you 
 it was not true. I care for you as much as 
 €ver I did." 
 
 The child, smiling content, read that truth 
 on his face; ano;els in heaven mioht have 
 read, weeping for pity, the deeper truth 
 branded upon his writhing heart. 
 
 VOL. I. z
 
 338 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 " Was it that fancy, then, which made you 
 speak about being a governess ? or must I 
 ask, as I did once before, are you getting 
 tired of us ?" 
 
 " Then you remember that night? — how 
 kind ! But as I said then I say now. I 
 could never be tired of you. I wish I were 
 indeed one of the " Miss Grammes," as people 
 so often suppose I am; then I should live 
 always at The Go wans, and never leave 
 you. No," she added, suddenly recollecting 
 herself, " though I were your sister, it would 
 make no difference : if I thouQ;ht as I think 
 now, I should leave you still." 
 
 " Yes, I suppose so,'' said Ninian, bitterly. 
 
 Hope was first surprised, then looked 
 ready to cry* but there was evidently some- 
 thing m her mind that kept up her courage, 
 in the only way by which such yielding 
 creatures ever have courage — some purpose 
 that draws its root not from the will but the 
 heart. What that purpose was, she seemed 
 far too timid to show. 
 
 " Well, child," continued Ninian, " do you
 
 THE HEAD OF THE EAMILY. 339 
 
 want my advice concerning your scheme ? 
 I thought you already knew Avhat I thought 
 on that subject, at least as regards my own 
 sisters. I would rather die than let Tinie or 
 the twins quit their brother's roof to turn 
 governesses." 
 
 " I know that ; but I am not your sister." 
 
 " That is true ; I have no right over you, 
 at least, no right but of advising, and that 
 only while you are pleased to allow the same." 
 
 Poor Ninian ! Strange that the best men 
 in the world, when racked by great mental 
 conflict, wound those they most cherish and 
 never even know it. 
 
 Hope made one desperate effort more. 
 " If you are angry with me, if I should do 
 this against your will, I will say nothing 
 about it ; but go back to The Gowans." 
 
 " You did not wish to go back to The 
 Gowans, then, child ! Is there any mystery 
 that I am not to knoTv^ ?" cried he ; and his 
 wild jealous fancy lighting on every proba- 
 bility, remembered what a noble, manly 
 fellow Edmund was growing, and how, 
 
 z2
 
 340 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 since they came to Clyde-side, he had ceased 
 to neglect Hope, and even openly praised 
 her beauty. Was there any new vexation 
 rising up in that quarter ? Hope's answer 
 decided the point. 
 
 " There is no mystery at all ; even Tinie 
 does not know this feeling in my mind, 
 thousjh it was talkins; to her that first awak- 
 ened it. You know she tells me everj^thing ; 
 she told me — please forgive her and me too, 
 if it was wrong — but she told me all your 
 conversation together the day she walked 
 with you towards Helensburgh. Oh, Mr. 
 Gra3me, why do you look so ? Are you 
 quite sure you are not angry ?" 
 
 " Angry ? Foolish little thing ! Nay, 
 go on." 
 
 " I thought — but I am ashamed to tell you 
 my idle thoughts." 
 
 " You must !" And he looked her full in 
 the face, bracing his strength to anything 
 that might come. " My sisters keep back 
 nothing from me. You would not have less 
 trust in me, or think worse of me, than they ?"
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 341 
 
 " I ! If you only knew what I do think 
 of you, but I can't tell it — I never can," an- 
 swered Hope, in a broken voice. " What I 
 mean is this — thoug-h I know I shall never 
 say it as I ought — that here have I been 
 living in your house a year; these" — she hesi- 
 tated, blushing scarlet — " these very clothes 
 I wear are your giving — you that work so 
 hard, and have so many brothers and sisters, 
 while I — oh ! cannot you understand me 
 now ?" 
 
 " Yes, I do, my child, my dear Hope !" 
 he answered, with inexpressible tenderness. 
 Something more than love was awaking in 
 him towards his darling. He began to re- 
 verence her, as a man should ever reverence 
 the woman in whom he sees his future wife. 
 
 His wife. The thought sprang up in his 
 heart like a light ; the next moment he had 
 trodden it out to ashes. 
 
 " So," he continued, determined to speak 
 thus, that no coming time might leave any 
 doubt, " my little Hope knows all about me ; 
 that I will have to work hard all my life, at
 
 342 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 least the greater part of it, and that my boys 
 and girls need never hope to ran wild without 
 their stern old bachelor brother to look after 
 them?" 
 
 " I know ! " said Hope, accustomed to his 
 way of putting gravest things in jesting 
 lashion, and looking at him with eyes that 
 spoke her full heart. 
 
 " But if I do this cheerfully, willingly — 
 feeling that giving some things I receive 
 others — tenderness, honour, home-happiness 
 — if my sisters are content, and do not wish to 
 run away from me, not even to get married, as 
 Miss Reay kindly proposed — why should not 
 my little Hope do as they ?" 
 
 " Because I am not your sister, and be- 
 cause (if this is wrong for me to say, I am 
 very sorry) I am afraid that those who might 
 care for me do not, and will never send for 
 me home again. So, what I shall have to do 
 some day, I may as well do at once, and try 
 to be a croverness." 
 
 " God forbid!" said Ninian earnestly; and 
 then he began to reason with her, treating
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 343 
 
 her like a woman and an equal, showing her 
 all the hardships and hindrances of her 
 scheme. But still she kept firm, firmer than 
 he had ever known her. She never contra- 
 dicted, not one word, yet he saw she was 
 not moved a jot. Her thorough woman's 
 nature — woman-hke even to its weakness 
 — had only two points of firmness, saving 
 strongholds when all the rest yielded — a 
 clear right-mindedness, an unerring affection. 
 These sustained her now. 
 
 Ninian tried her in every way; — at last, 
 with an argument that while wieldingj made 
 his own heart to quiver — 
 
 " There is one thing more besides the 
 world's cares — its dangers. You are very 
 young, and — I may as well speak the plain 
 truth, for I dare say you know it already 
 — very beautiful." 
 
 She smiled, innocently, yet proud. " I am 
 glad you think so, as Tinie and Lindsay do. 
 1 was pleased when they first told me of it. 
 I myself always love people ten times more 
 when I fancy them beautiftd."
 
 344 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 There came a stransje convulsion over the 
 face, so " hard-featured" as it was J " Well 
 then !" continued Ninian, " being beautiful, 
 other people will perhaps love you the 
 more, or at least admire you. This admira- 
 tion might harm you, wrong you, insult you." 
 And he seemed to take a stern pleasure in 
 usinfT the words, until he saw she did not 
 understand them in the least. 
 
 " I do not see that. If women admired 
 me, I should get more kindly treated ; if any 
 gentleman told me I was handsome, and that 
 he loved me for it, of course — supposing he 
 were good — I should marry him, and be very 
 happy." 
 
 Truly the heart, crushed and frozen 
 down through childhood and early girl- 
 iiood, was now the most utter piece of un- 
 worldliness it was possible to conceive. 
 Ninian shuddered at the bare thoui2;ht of 
 admitting even the glare of daylight upon 
 its unstained snow. 
 
 " I tell you, you must give up this notion. 
 You are a child, knowing nothing. My little
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 345 
 
 Hope — my innocent one — I would rather 
 cut off this right hand than that it should let 
 you go." 
 
 He spoke in passion smothered but strong, 
 holding her so tight that her little fingers 
 struggled as if in pain. 
 
 " Did I hurt you, my darling — my poor 
 wee birdie!" said he, in an accent of wild 
 fondness. And then his true soul came into 
 him again. "I am rather rough in my 
 manner, Hope, but you must attribute it 
 all to my strong interest in you, and my 
 sense of the responsibility your father left 
 with me. Until he claims you — and he may 
 do so ere long — I trust so, if it would relieve 
 your mind to quit us and go to him " 
 
 " Oh, no ! don't speak of that ! I mean — 
 nay, I don't clearly know what I mean, 
 except that 1 love you all so much. I would 
 never have dreamed of parting from you, 
 except that I thought it right." 
 
 ("My true one!" throbbed the upright 
 heart, against which she must not, could not 
 be suffered to rest — but its voice was silent.)
 
 346 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 " I know," Ninian said, " you would do 
 everything you thought right; but in this 
 case you must let me judge. You must 
 go back, for a time at least, until your 
 father receives you— or till" — there was 
 one jarring tone, and his voice went cheer- 
 fully on as before — "till that 'gentleman' 
 unknown, whom we alluded to, shall make 
 his appearance." 
 
 She smiled — shook her head — saying, in 
 girlish fashion, " She could Avait — indeed, 
 she rather hoped never to marry at all." 
 
 " Well, until you change your mind, be 
 content to think yourself one of my sisters, 
 whom it would grieve me inexpressibly to 
 lose." 
 
 " Would it ? oh, would it ? I don't de- 
 serve that you should be so kind to me — such 
 
 a man as you — so good, so Oh, if it 
 
 would not make Tinie jealous, I think even 
 she herself could not love her brother more 
 than I !" 
 
 " Oh, God !" he gasped, turning his head 
 away, so that she neither saw nor heard.
 
 THE HEAL) OF THE FAMILY. 347 
 
 " liow will all this end ! But," whispered 
 his strong heart, leaping up in stern joy, 
 " One onl}'- feels — one only suffers ! It is 
 well — ay, it is very well !"
 
 o4fS THE HEAD OE THE FAMILY. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 NiNiAN went home. With his usual in- 
 dependent will, he rose early, and was off in 
 the grey morning, saying good-by to no- 
 body except to Lindsay, who had heard 
 him stirring, and came to his door. 
 
 " Will you not let me go with you ?" was 
 her last entreaty, as she looked up to his 
 eyes, heav}'' with unrest. " You are still 
 not well?" 
 
 " Not quite. Never mind — I must cure 
 myself all alone. But," he added, turning 
 back with his foot on the threshold, " it is 
 really nothing. Don't tell the children." 
 
 So he went away from the sunny Gare- 
 Loch — sunny now no more, but wrapped in
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 349 
 
 a dusky mist. River and mountains faded 
 from his sight — his holiday was over. 
 
 A man who can give up dreaming and go 
 to his daily realities — who can smother down 
 his heart, its love or woe, and take to the 
 hard work of his hand — who defies fate — 
 and if he must die, dies fighting to the last 
 — that man is life's best hero. 
 
 I dare say it would be more interesting 
 and poetical if I were to paint Ninian 
 Gra3me leaning over the boat's side, and 
 dropping womanly tears into the Clyde, and 
 lying back in the railway-carriage spent by 
 the exhaustion of emotion. But he did not. 
 Whatever he felt, Heaven knoweth ! and 
 Heaven is merciful, tender, and dumb ! The 
 only words he said — and he might have 
 soliloquised a whole page — for he had the 
 carriage to himself — were, " I must go home 
 and work." 
 
 Work — work — work ! It is the iron 
 ploughshare that goes over the field of the 
 heart, rooting up all the pretty grasses, and
 
 350 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 the beautiful, hurtful weeds that we have 
 taken such pleasure in growing, laying them 
 all under, fair and foul together — making 
 plain, dull-looking arable land for our neigh- 
 bours to peer at ; until at night-time, down 
 in the deep furrows the angels come and 
 sow. 
 
 Ninian did not go to The Gowans. He 
 might have felt a repugnance to Miss Reay, 
 now temporary regent there by Lindsay's 
 wish. " It will help her out until the Pro- 
 fessor takes his new house ; and she is a 
 thrifty, kindly body, though she has such a 
 tongue," remarked Our Sister, who had a 
 good word for everybody. So Miss Reay 
 was put in charge of The Gowans. Possibly 
 Mr. Grasme objected to be included in that 
 consignment, or, knowing how hard he must 
 work, he would not suffer himself to dream 
 in that lonely house — in the parlour where he 
 and the child had sat ninht after nio-ht during 
 Lindsay's illness — in the study whither he 
 had carried her, and where, for all he knew,
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 351 
 
 the flowers he had put beside her every 
 morning, even the last morning, might be 
 mouldering on their dead stalks yet. He 
 might have thought of these things, or he 
 might not ; but he certainly drove at once 
 to his office, ensconced himself there, and 
 finally began to think — as he found a letter 
 firom his friend, Mrs. Forsvth — whether he 
 could not contrive to go down every night 
 to sleep at Musselburgh, until his household 
 absentees came home. 
 
 Innumerable slight necessities had ga- 
 thered round him, showing that Ninian 
 Gr^me could not be missed from his place 
 for three weeks without somebody wanting 
 him and feeling his loss. His broAv was 
 less heavy, the hard lines about his mouth 
 softened, as he applied himself to these small 
 needs and kindly charities that clustered in 
 his way. Finishing them, he thought, half 
 smiling, half sorrowful, of a line in his fa- 
 vourite author — usually a favourite with 
 common-sense people, as being at once the
 
 352 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 truest, greatest, and most common-sense poet 
 in the world: 
 
 " Heaven does with us as we with torches do, 
 Not light them for themselves." 
 
 He wondered, with one of his quaint con- 
 ceits, whether a certain torch he knew would 
 crackle or writhe in the burning, and how 
 long it would be before it was quite burnt out. 
 It was a lonof time since he had been at Mus- 
 selburo;h — not since the fever had come into 
 his household — except the night when he had 
 taken Rachel home. He thought of her, and 
 of what had become of her ; half reproach- 
 ino; himself for havino; thus thought for the 
 first time. But he had been so dead to 
 everything in the world outside while 
 dwelling: in that sweet, still Eden on the 
 shores of Clyde. Coming out of it, all things 
 and all people looked like shadows seen a 
 long time ago, and half forgotten since. He 
 almost marvelled to find the old town of 
 Musselburgh standing where it did, with its 
 dull, slow river, and Prince Charlie's bridge.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 353 
 
 over whicli he had walked with Mr. Ulver- 
 ston a year before. Thinking of Mr. Ulver- 
 ston took him back to that sweet evening 
 at Ardmore, after which the young Eughsh- 
 man had disappeared from Clyde-side. Ni- 
 nian had been sorry at the time, but did not 
 much mind that now. It seemed as if all 
 acquaintanceships, ay, and dearer ties, were 
 growing pale and distant. Until he stood 
 at Mrs. Forsyth's gate, he did not even think 
 of his old friend John. 
 
 " Mr. Gr^me, is that you? I am so glad 
 to see you," was the widow's hearty wel- 
 come, as she came running out from the in- 
 ferior regions of her dwelling, with a small 
 iron in one hand, and in the other a pair of 
 minister's bands. She showed them to Ni- 
 nian with a motherly pride. " I'm busy, 
 you see ; my John is quite better, and going 
 to try to preach next Sunday. I was feared 
 that I would never see him in the pulpit 
 again; but God is good, and has let the poor 
 widow keep her ae bairn." 
 
 The tears were in her eyes. She spoke 
 
 VOL. I. 2 A
 
 354 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 with unconscious pathos, using the accent of 
 her homely youth, though in general she 
 prided herself on her superior breeding, as 
 becoming the mother of a minister. 
 
 Ninian shook her hand warmly, to the 
 imminent risk of the snowy cambric of 
 which she seemed so proud. " Is John here, 
 then ? It will be such a pleasure to see 
 him aGfain. You did not tell me he was 
 
 o 
 
 " I did not know. I left him at his manse 
 last week, and he followed me yesterday. 
 He could not do without his mother, and 
 he wanted to preach here. He said his first 
 sermon after this long illness should be in 
 the kirk where he preached that afternoon 
 — do you mind ? when your sisters were all 
 there, and I and — that daft hizzie ?" 
 
 " Hush !" said Ninian, wishing to stop the 
 mother's bitter speech, as just then John 
 Forsyth was seen walking up the garden. 
 
 There are some faces to whom hard lines 
 come naturally — faces born to grow sharp 
 and dark; but his, so fair, so mild, so deli-
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 355 
 
 cate ! it was a pitiful tiling to see it ploughed 
 into unnatural harshness. Apostle-Hke he 
 still looked, but the softness of St. John was 
 changing into the stoniness of St. Peter. 
 His eyes had a fierce light — the enthusiasm 
 that might in time become fanaticism; his 
 gesture as he walked was abrupt, irregular. 
 At sight of Ninian he started, and seemed 
 inclined to turn back, but recovered himself, 
 and met his old friend. They shook hands 
 silently. 
 
 " Are we interrupting you, John ?" said 
 the anxious mother, seeing he looked dis- 
 composed, and his answers to Ninian were 
 brief and cold. " You see, Mr. Graeme, he 
 
 is busy learning his sermon off by heart 
 
 it is a very hard task upon him." 
 
 '• Yes," said Ninian, anxious to pass into 
 some conversation which might distract the 
 painful emotion which he saw was changing 
 his friend's countenance from pale to ashen, 
 though not a muscle quivered — " it is very 
 hard upon our Scottish ministers — the preju- 
 dice that congregations have against a read 
 
 2 a2
 
 356 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 sermon. It seems to me mere folly. What 
 dilTerence can there be between a sermon 
 written and read, and another written and 
 preached from memory? If I were a mi- 
 nister, I would brave public opinion at 
 once, rather than give myself such needless 
 trouble." 
 
 " Trouble !" said John Forsyth, his wild 
 eye flashinn;. " Trouble ! Avhen it is for 
 God's service, and done to win souls ! Ay, 
 there it is; we care not what we do to gain 
 the things of this world, but when Heaven 
 asks aught from us, we call it trouble. You 
 err, Niuian — you greatly err." 
 
 There was a quick, stern dogmatism about 
 liim, quite new in the gentle John Forsyth, 
 lie seemed ready to dash out his opinions 
 like firebrands, little caring where they alit. 
 If such incendiaries get among God's har- 
 vest, they burn up wheat and tares toge- 
 ther. 
 
 " Eh, but I am sure this is trouble enough 
 to you, John," interposed the mother. " You 
 tiiat are telUng me every day how poor your
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 357 
 
 memory is of late, and how you cannot keep 
 your mind to your book-learning. It's no 
 easy, your minister's work, nor will be." 
 
 " I do not want it easy. It shall be hard 
 — the harder the better. I will not offer 
 that which costs me nothing." 
 
 " If we give willingly and in love, we 
 never think of the cost, be it great or small," 
 Ninian ventured to say. " I am sure no 
 minister ever devoted himself to Heaven more 
 earnestly than John Forsyth." 
 
 " Ay, I did — I did ! I used, when I was 
 a child, to feel like a little Samuel — a Ti- 
 mothy ! and when I grew a youth, I would 
 have been a Eenwick — an Alexander Peden. 
 But it is not too late — I hope in God it is 
 not too late !" 
 
 " How could it be too late, John, when 
 you are so young — when you have talent 
 enough to become one of the most popular 
 among our ministers ?" 
 
 " Popular !" he sternly repeated. " That 
 would be only another form of self I 
 should but serve the devil a second time."
 
 358 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 This was the only allusion he had yet made 
 to the conflict he had passed through, or the 
 passion which had consumed him. Out of 
 the fire he came — safe, indeed,but scarred and 
 seared into a likeness so changed from his old 
 self that it mi2;ht have been another man's. 
 Ninian looked at him with other eyes and 
 tenderer than heretofore. Alas ! he un- 
 derstood these things now. Different, but 
 yet alike, had been their year's history. He 
 could have -wi'ung John Forsyth's hand, and 
 called him brother. 
 
 " So you are going to preach in the old 
 kirk where you preached before ?" 
 
 "Yes ; it is my will. Perhaps the new 
 vows I make regarding my future may be 
 accepted there." And something in his 
 look convinced Ninian of the one grand aim 
 of the young minister's life now — self-abase- 
 ment, penance for having been led astray. 
 
 "What are those vows, if you will tell 
 me ?" said Ninian. " You know well, John, 
 that no one can be more anxious over your 
 happiness than I."
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 359 
 
 " Happiness !" he repeated. It was a 
 dangerous, torturing word to say to him as 
 yet. Ninian repented of it. 
 
 "Your future, then, whatever it may 
 prove. I hope it may be full of honour and 
 peace." 
 
 " Do not talk of either ; talk of duty. 
 That is what I live for. The hardest, the 
 fiercest, the most humbling, is the better 
 fitted for me. Therefore I have resigned 
 my church 'in the North. It is too quiet — 
 the people are too virtuous — more so than 
 their minister," he added, bitterly. 
 
 " John — John !" sighed his mother. She 
 made no other murmur. His will seemed 
 everything now. 
 
 " I will go through Scotland as a field- 
 preacher. I would go abroad at once as 
 a missionary, but that would be a life too 
 easy — too much after my own longing when 
 I was a boy. The things I most recoil from, 
 those I must do. I am going up and down 
 in cities and towns, among lanes and alleys, 
 amidst all the vice and foulness I loathed so
 
 3 GO THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 when we were boys, Ninian. If I preach 
 anywhere, I will preach there." 
 
 " John, my puir bairn ! ye will kill 
 yourself!" sobbed the motlier. He looked 
 at her with a sort of compassion, as if he 
 did not belong to her ; but gradually his 
 heart melted,— it had been so gentle once 
 towards her and every living thing. 
 
 "No; I will not kill myself, mother, if 
 only for your sake." 
 
 " He said he couldn't do without me, you 
 know," was the poor woman's confirmatory 
 appeal to Ninian, as she came and stood by 
 her son. He let her take his hand and 
 smooth his coat-sleeve, in the caressing way 
 that mothers love ; but he stood quite pas- 
 sive. Ninian's eye passed from him to the 
 papers he held — his lately-written sermon. 
 Its text was — " He that loveth father or 
 mofJier, or wife^ or sister, or brethren, more 
 than me, is not ivorthy of me."" 
 
 And truly in the young minister's face — 
 pale, rigid, yet lighted with the fire of 
 religious devotion — Ninian read the sign of
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 361 
 
 one who was worthy. God's service requires 
 such — martyrs as well as apostles; and the 
 "noble army" on earth makes the "goodly 
 company of the prophets" in heaven. It is 
 not hard ! 
 
 John Forsyth sat down once more to study 
 his sermon; while his mother and Ninian 
 kept aloof, speaking in an under tone. They 
 had talked long, and Mr. Graeme had not 
 yet ventured to put the question — a sore 
 one, but which he was most anxious to have 
 answered — concerning; Rachel, when Mrs. 
 Forsyth's handmaiden interrupted them, 
 saying that a person without was asking for 
 Mr. Graeme. 
 
 " Some one of my clerks, probably. They 
 might let me alone, when I have come all 
 the way from the Gare-Loch since morning. 
 Ask his message, will you, Jean?" 
 
 " It's no a man, sir," whispered the old 
 servant, confidentially. " Gin I maun tell, 
 it's a puir auld bodie that corned ance or 
 mair after Mrs. Armstrong." 
 
 Whether the fault lay in Jean's tongue.
 
 362 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 or lier mistress's suspicious ears, certain it 
 was that Mrs. Forsyth caught the word. 
 
 "What is that you say about " She 
 
 glanced at her son, and paused. " I tell 
 you," said she, speaking in a quick under 
 voice to Ninian, "if it is a message from 
 Aer, you can do as you will, but I will never 
 see her face more. She went away to her 
 own folk at the Border, and ne'er a word 
 have I heard of her sinsyne, nor care to 
 hear. Blude's thicker than water, and I 
 bear her nae ill-will ; but I couldna see her, 
 Mr. Grosrae — I couldna do it." 
 
 " You need not be frightened, ma'am," said 
 an English voice, as Jane Sedley walked right 
 into the room, with a marvellous dignity in 
 her little crooked figure. " My mistress 
 wouldn't see you, not npon any account. 
 She told me to say so. It's Mr. Gra3me she 
 wants, and nobody else." 
 
 " Then she may go to Mr. Gramme's ain 
 door, for she shall ne'er darken mine," cried 
 Mrs. Forsyth, forgetting everything but her 
 indignation.
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAIMILY. 363 
 
 " Nay, my good friend, do not vex your- 
 self," said Ninian. " Mrs. Sedley, shall I go 
 and see your mistress at once, or can she 
 wait until to-morrow ?" 
 
 " She cannot wait — oh, sir, she cannot 
 wait," answered the woman, in a voice that 
 warned Ninian of some impending trouble. 
 " She has been seeking for you since morn- 
 ing, and now it is quite night," 
 
 '- Where is she ?" 
 
 " In the cjarden. She would not enter the 
 house." 
 
 " No, nor would I let her if she dared." 
 
 " Mother !" said John Forsyth. He had 
 not stirred from his table at the far corner of 
 the room. All their speech had been carried 
 on in hasty whispers. They thought he had 
 not heard, but he had. Ninian was sure of 
 it the moment he saw the young man's face. 
 "Mother!" 
 
 " Yes, my son." 
 
 " Let our cousin Rachel in !" Every word 
 fell sharp, cold, and clear.
 
 364 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 " But, my son — my dear John." 
 
 He repeated it again, only altering one 
 word. " Fetch our cousin Rachel in." 
 
 Then he rose, made a show of collecting 
 books to study, but went, leaving the lamp 
 behind. With a slow, firm step, and eyes that 
 never moved but looked rigidly forward, he 
 quitted the room. They heard him walk up- 
 stairs and bolt his door. Then all was silence. 
 
 Her son gone, Mrs. Forsyth's wrath burst 
 out. " I wonder she daur show her face 
 here, the heartless quean; she that wasna 
 worth ae blink o' my John's sweet een. I'se 
 warrant she repents her. But she'll no get 
 him noo — she'll no get him noo !" 
 
 Her broad, shrill accents — broader and 
 shriller the more angry she grew — were 
 wasted on thin air. Ninian had left the 
 room and followed Jane Sedley. 
 
 " There she is, sir, standing in the gar- 
 den walk ; speak gently, for she's not quite 
 herself, I think." 
 
 "I am so glad to see jom again, Rachel,"
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 365 
 
 said Ninian. But she did not come to meet 
 him, or stir in any way. In the darkness, 
 her face was indistinguishable, but her figure 
 was seen, still and upright, like an effigy of 
 stone. " I wish I had known you were 
 seeking me. Do you want to speak to me 
 about anything ?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Will you come in with me, then ?" 
 
 " No !" 
 
 ("Ah, lack! sir," whispered Jane, "those 
 two words, 'Yes' and 'No,' are the only 
 words I've been able to get out of her these 
 four-and-twenty hours. But she'll hear if I 
 say more. Speak to her again, please.") 
 
 " Rachel, you need have no reluctance to 
 enter; you will see no one but me. It will 
 never do to stay here, this dark, rainy night. 
 Come in, then — indeed you must." 
 
 He took one of her hands — they were 
 locked together, close and cold — but she 
 made no resistance, and he led her into the 
 house. 
 
 "Where must I bring her?" said he, as.
 
 366 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 leaving Rachel without the parlour door he 
 approached Mrs. Forsyth, who sat by her 
 fireside, guarding its sanctity, the image of 
 rigid propriety and bitter reproach. 
 
 " Brine: her in here! You do not want to 
 turn me from my own hearth, do you ?" 
 
 Ninian brought the poor soul past the 
 threshold, and set her in a chair. Truly "he 
 brouirht" and "he set," for she seemed to do 
 nothing of her own will or power, but just 
 as she was ruled by another. As she sat 
 there, her clothes dripping with rain, neither 
 moving limb nor feature, Ninian saw that a 
 great blow had fallen upon her. 
 
 " Well, young woman," began Mrs. For- 
 syth, but without looking towards her, " what 
 do ye come for ? My son is quite well 
 now. I was little feared he would break his 
 heart for you. Ye need not come speering 
 after him, Rachel Armstrong, or whatsoever 
 your name may be, for folk were saying 
 strange things o' ye after ye chose to flit frae 
 your cousin's house. But I suppose ye kenned 
 naething o' thae tales — naething ava ?"
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 367 
 
 "Nay, now, Mrs. Forsyth," said Ninian, 
 trying to silence her. 
 
 " I'll say my say, Mr. Gr^me. She's my 
 ain kith and kin, and I forgie her, as the 
 Gospel bids us. But my mind misgives me 
 the lassie's gaim a' wrang, and I'll no see 
 the like o' that without a word o' advice. 
 Why could she no come here i' the dajdight, 
 like a decent body, instead of daundering in 
 at unseemly hours, looking as if she were 
 gane wud, or something, maybe, that's waur? 
 Wha kens a' the truth ? Lassies dinna 
 often go daft and say they're married." 
 
 " I entreat you — nay, you must be silent," 
 said Ninian's resolute voice ; and he looked 
 anxiously at Eachel. Her eyes were fixed 
 on the angry woman, but the expression of 
 her face never once varied. 
 
 " Rachel, what can I do for you ? Do 
 you hear me ?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 Then she had heard Mrs. Forsyth likewise, 
 and heard unmoved, unanswering. What 
 strange change had frozen her thus ?
 
 368 THE HEAD of the family. 
 
 " Mrs. Forsyth, indeed you must leave us. 
 Rachel wishes to consult me, and you cannot 
 expect her to do it before you, and after such 
 upbraidings. Besides, you have forgotten 
 your son." 
 
 Ninian was a man of judgment ; he knew 
 how to touch the light chords which guide 
 luimanity. After a few moments, Mrs. For- 
 syth left the room, and was heard knocking 
 timidly at her son's door. 
 
 Ninian closed and fastened that of the 
 parlour : he had a strong presentiment of 
 the tale to be listened to — the crisis of poor 
 Rachel's woe. 
 
 " Now, tell me," said he, in his soft, kind 
 voice, — " tell me what has happened. What 
 is it you wish to say to me ?" 
 
 She looked round to assure herself that 
 they were alone, then gave him slowly, and 
 with a mechanical, business-like air, a paper, 
 which he now saw she had held crushed in 
 her left hand the whole time. 
 
 " I received this yesterday." 
 
 Mr. Gramme unfolded it quickly. It was a
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 369 
 
 blank envelope, containing several Bank of 
 England notes. His heart misgave him ; but 
 still he asked, as indifferently as he could, 
 " Did she know from whom it came ?" 
 
 " He sent it." 
 
 " Mr. Sabine, your " Ninian paused 
 
 upon the words " your husband," for he saw 
 that at the very mention of the name of 
 Sabine the life had come again into that poor 
 frozen face. He had gone aside to examine 
 the notes by the light of the lamp; Rachel 
 got up and crossed the room to him, guiding 
 herself by tables and chairs^ her whole 
 frame, once so rigid, quivering and swaying 
 like one who rises from a d}dng bed and 
 tries to walk. 
 
 "Do you see that?" she said, slowly, 
 pointing with her finger to the envelope, 
 which he had thrown aside. 
 
 It was in a hand somewhat round and 
 forced, as if the writer wished to disguise 
 it. The address was to Miss Rachel Arm- 
 strong. 
 
 Ninian looked — looked again ; he would 
 
 VOL. I. 2 b
 
 370 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 have turned his eyes anywhere rather than 
 meet hers. 
 
 " What does my husband mean ?" 
 
 " I cannot tell ; I must have time to 
 think. Are you quite sure this writing is 
 Ms ?" 
 
 " I — not to know his writin2[ ! It is diffe- 
 rent, certainly; he — he intends it for a jest 
 — I think so ! Do not you ?" said she, utter- 
 ing the words painfully, with quick, short 
 breath. 
 
 Ninian made no answer. 
 
 " You see, it must be a jest, or he 
 would not write ray name ' Each el Ann- 
 strong.^ " It seemed that all her will and 
 mental power were expended in arranging 
 these few consecutive words. Having ut- 
 tered them, she stood, her eyes fixed on 
 Ninian; as if his next sentence — his next 
 look — contained her doom. 
 
 But he remained quite silent, turning the 
 papers over and over, in close examination. 
 At last Rachel touched him on the arm. 
 
 " I cannot — I cannot," said he, huskily. " I
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 371 
 
 mean I cannot give you an answer just yet. 
 Sit down, my poor girl, and tell me more. 
 
 Did this man " 
 
 "With something of the old wrathful pride 
 lighting her eyes, she corrected him — "Ji?/ 
 husband,'''' 
 
 " Did he answer your letter ? Have you 
 
 had any sight or tidings of him until now ?" 
 
 Her whole frame seemed to collapse with 
 
 some nameless fear, as she faintly uttered 
 
 " No !" 
 
 Ninian felt that the crisis was come, when 
 he, and he alone, must unfold to this wronged 
 woman the extent of her wrong. What 
 that was, he Avas himself at present uncer- 
 tain. One of two things must be the truth. 
 Either the marriage was false, or he — the 
 husband — ^wished her to believe it so. In 
 any case he had deserted her. 
 
 " Rachel," said Ninian, trying to prepare 
 her in some way, "this is a bitter trial for 
 you. How can I help you ?" 
 
 " Tell me, for I cannot quite understand, 
 what it is my husband means ?" 
 
 2b2 
 
 V
 
 372 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 " Na}^, but what think you ?" 
 
 " I cannot tell, my head is all strange. 
 Perhaps on account of my disobeying him 
 he is very angry. Still, I will have pa- 
 tience : I will follow him to the world's 
 end, but he shall forgive me. He ought, 
 for am I not his wife ?" 
 
 " Show me," said Ninian, in as indifferent 
 a manner as he could assume — " sliow me 
 the marriage-acknowledgment you told me 
 of." 
 
 " I have it not. Why do you weary me 
 about it ? I am not thinking of that now," 
 she answered. 
 
 " You have it not ! "Where is it then ? 
 Tell me ; I must know." 
 
 " My husband has it." 
 
 Ninian looked aghast. Even Rachel, un- 
 suspicious as she was, saw something in his 
 countenance that terrified her. He had the 
 presence of mind to conceal his doubts, only 
 saying, "Did you give the paper to him, or 
 did he take it ?" 
 
 " I gave it. I had no safe place to keep
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 37o 
 
 it in, and in whose possession ought it to be 
 but in my husband's ?" 
 
 " That is true, if he were an honourable 
 man." 
 
 " If? You do not doubt that — you could 
 not — you dared not ! He may be angry 
 with me, scorn, despise me, alas ! no wonder; 
 yet you see the thought has almost crushed 
 me. He may even in his anger forsake me 
 for a time, but if he were to deceive me in 
 the lightest thing — mind, I say only in the 
 lightest thing — it would drive me mad !" 
 
 " Keep calm, Rachel," said Ninian, gently; 
 but she went on unheedins;. 
 
 " For years I have believed in him, 
 wholly, worshippingly ; almost as I believed 
 in God. If I could do so no more, I should 
 believe in nothing either in earth or heaven; 
 I should sink down — down — until devils 
 clutched me and made me — oh, there is 
 nothing so vile that I could not be made, 
 if I once lost faith in him !" 
 
 As she spoke her whole likeness changed 
 — from weakness to strength, from paleness
 
 374 THE HEAD OF THE FAIMILY. 
 
 to the glow of fierce emotion ; dazzling almost 
 as youthful beauty. She looked her old self 
 again, or even more glorious. 
 
 " It is false !" she said, walking the room 
 stately and fair. " He may not be all perfect; 
 I think" — and her voice faltered a little — 
 " I think in some thingrs he has not used me 
 well; but, that he should stoop to be that 
 which you, by your cruel ' if,' impUed, is 
 utterly fiilse — utterly impossible." 
 
 It was a piteous thing, and so Nmian 
 thought it, to see that while she divined 
 the fearful suspicions which as yet had not 
 passed his lips, they seemed to awake in her 
 no terror of the consequences to herself. 
 She only felt the dread of doubting her 
 husband, the agony of his being degraded 
 in her eyes. 
 
 Mr. Gra3me knew not what to do. To tell 
 the deceived girl what he himself believed to 
 be the truth that the marriao:e, if ever local, 
 was now rendered questionable by the fact 
 that its sole proof was in tlie hands of the 
 husband, who had, doubtless, destroyed it —
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 375 
 
 seemed wasting idle words upon air. She 
 would never believe that he was thus guilty. 
 To hint at such a thing would only enrage 
 her beyond all bounds. And after all, the 
 man whom she loved thus passionately might 
 not, could not, be such a villain. Ninian de- 
 termined to run the chance, and until further 
 evidence to pre-suppose Geoffrey Sabine all 
 that Rachel believed. 
 
 "You must not be angry with me," he 
 said, deprecatingly. " We learn to distrust 
 every one, we men of law. And you must 
 remember I never knew anything of your 
 husband." 
 
 " Oh, that you had ! But you will, for I 
 must find him out, and you must help me. 
 If he wishes to renounce me he shall ; it is 
 his will, and I submit; but he must forgive 
 me — see me once more — let me cling to his 
 breast, and bid him farewell. If I could only 
 die, then and there, with his arms clasping 
 me, and his face leaning over me ! He never 
 knew, he never can know, how wildly I 
 loved him — year by year — as a child, as a
 
 376 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 girl, as a woman, till at last I loved him as a 
 wife. Ay, I am his wife ! unworthy indeed, 
 but still his wife !" 
 
 These words stru^o-led out amid bitter 
 moans, as, subdued in complete humility, she 
 sat by the hearth, and gave way to a flood 
 of tenderness and woe. Ninian marvelled to 
 trace in her mien so much of feminine soft- 
 ness. It was for the last time. He never 
 saw the woman in her ag;ain. 
 
 " There now," she said at last, drying her 
 hot cheeks, and putting back her hair — " I 
 am quite composed ; it has done me good to 
 weep, but I shall not weep again. I will 
 bear my fate calmly, whatever it may be. 
 Only I must once more see my husband. 
 Advise me how I shall best find him !" 
 
 " Have you thought," answered Ninian, 
 but gently, lest he might be venturing too 
 far — " Have you thought that possibly he 
 wishes to avoid you ? It seems like it." 
 
 Her face grew crimson, until the blush — 
 alas ! it was her last blush — passed away like 
 her last tear. " I know it does," she replied,
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 377 
 
 mournfully, " but that makes no difference ; 
 it might if I were only his betrothed, for 
 I have some pride. His wife has another 
 duty. If he is angry with me I must humble 
 myself before him; if he is ashamed to own 
 me I must tell him that I will hide myself 
 from him, and trouble him no more. Any 
 way, I must see him." 
 
 " How can he be traced ? Can you give 
 me any clue ? Did he ever speak of his 
 parents, or friends ?" asked INIr. Graeme, 
 takino; the straio-htforward view of the matter. 
 
 " No, no," answered she, restlessly. " I 
 fancied they were either dead or estranged 
 from him. But I never asked — they were 
 nothing to me. I only thought of him. 
 Besides, even if my husband had told me 
 anything of his historj^ or affairs, what right 
 have I to tell you ?" 
 
 " None — except that otherwise all search 
 is in vain — for I have not the slightest in- 
 formation concerning him. Unless you trust 
 me, it is utterly impossible for me to aid you 
 in any way."
 
 378 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 "Oh, that is hard — very hard ! Well, I 
 will try to remember — that is, if I can do it 
 without disobeying him — for the little he 
 ever told me, he charged me to hold secret 
 as death. Ay, and so I shall, except in 
 this bitter emergency. Let me think." 
 
 She sat silent a minute, and then said: 
 " He told me one day, that though he was 
 poor then he might not be so always, for he 
 was heir to his father's brother — an Englisli 
 baronet — who had a large estate. I laughed 
 and called him ' Sir Geoffrey,' — then almost 
 wept, thinking how far I was beneath him 
 — so he spoke no more of it, either then or 
 at any other time." 
 
 " His father's brother," mused 'Ninian — 
 " then the name would be the same — Sabine ; 
 but we could easily find out, if we had a list 
 of English baronetcies. I have one at my 
 office, I think ; I will look to-morrow." 
 
 '• To-morrow — I cannot wait ! You for- 
 get how different your to-morrows are from 
 mine ! Could we 2jo to-nif?ht ? It is not
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 379 
 
 late. I have strength for anything. Ah, be 
 kind to me — let us go." 
 
 He had a pitying heart had Ninian 
 Gr^me. Without a word, he prepared to 
 start for Edinburgh. He unlocked the door, 
 and called Mrs. Sedley. Her little figure 
 arose from the foot of the stairs, where she 
 had crouched, keeping watch for her beloved 
 mistress. 
 
 Eachel was putting up her hair and tying 
 on her bonnet, lier hands shaking with 
 excitement. "Don't hinder me, Jane. I 
 am going to find him. I think I shall find 
 him now. Are you ready, Mr. Gra3me ?'* 
 
 " Yes — but you are forgetting these." He 
 pointed to the bank-notes, left strewn about 
 the table, 
 
 Eachel's lips trembled. " I do not quite 
 understand why he sent me money. He 
 knew I had enough for my small needs. He 
 is poor himself too, or was once." 
 
 " Still, you had better take charge of it." 
 
 Eachel held out her hand, but immediately 
 drew back with a look of bitter pain. " No,
 
 380 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 no J I can't toucli it ! I wanted a line — only 
 one line of tenderness, forgiveness, and he has 
 sent me — money!" She said no more, but 
 pulled her veil down and walked steadily 
 from the house. 
 
 Ninian gave the notes into Jane Sedley's 
 care. He felt that there was faithfulness in 
 the woman. Without speaking, they both 
 followed Rachel towards Edinburgh. 
 
 It was too late for any but a foot journey. 
 Rachel walked on and on, mile after mile, 
 never lingering — never pausing. She did 
 not once speak or look towards Ninian. He 
 offered her his assistance; but she refused, 
 and kept on, step after step, with a sort of 
 mechanical energy. 
 
 " Ah, sir — never mind me — look to her," 
 cried the little old woman, whom he turned 
 to help. " My poor mistress — this is the 
 way she has been walking all day. On, on, 
 never stopping either for meat, or drink, 
 or rest. And even now little she thinks 
 what is coming upon her. How is it all to 
 end ?"
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 381 
 
 " God knows !" said Ninian. " But you 
 must not leave her." 
 
 " Mr. Gr£eme — I had a child once, Avho 
 had her coloured hair and eyes. I've no- 
 body noAV. No. I shall never leave her !" 
 
 St. Giles's chimes were ringing twelve — 
 the hdits of the Old Town had all vanished ; 
 and the New Town looked ghostly and 
 deserted, when the three reached Ninian's 
 office. The old clerk who kept watch over 
 the place came out, shading his flaring light, 
 and thinking his master "daft." But even 
 he looked CTave when he saw the faces of 
 the two women that followed Mr. Graeme. 
 It was evident they were come on a matter 
 of life and death. 
 
 " Sit down, Rachel, sit down. Make her 
 rest a minute, Mrs. Sedley." 
 
 Rest— to her! She kept walking about 
 with quick, unnatural motion, only saying 
 beseechingly, " The book — can you not find 
 
 the book ?" 
 
 It was a good while before he could do 
 so, for he himself was somewhat agitated.
 
 382 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 He had rarely felt more strongly moved 
 than when he gave the volume into Rachel's 
 hands. She turned over page after page. 
 
 " I — I cannot see clearly; the lines swim." 
 
 " Sit down, poor girl !" he said once more; 
 but her limbs refused to stir. He laid the 
 book on the table, and she stood over him 
 — her left hand clutching his chair. 
 
 " It will be at the beginning of the S*s; 
 S-a — you spell it thus, do you not, Rachel?" 
 
 She nodded. Her hps were all dry and 
 dumb. 
 
 He looked over the page silently. " Are 
 you quite sure of the name ?" He felt her 
 hard gasping breath on his cheek, but there 
 was no articulate answer. 
 
 " — I may have passed it by ; my mind 
 is rather confused to-night. Look over the 
 book with me !" 
 
 She leaned forward; her finger followed 
 his down the pages, word by word, and line 
 by line, to the end of the list. 
 
 The name of Sabine was not there. 
 
 Niniau expected to hear her fall in a
 
 THE HEAD OE THE FAMILY. 383 
 
 swoon, but she never moved or uttered a 
 sound. He saw her grasping the chair, her 
 face rigid as that of a corpse which, the life 
 being gone, slowly settles into calm. 
 
 " My poor Eachel, do you guess it now ? 
 Or must I tell you ?" 
 
 Her eyes slowly turned upon him. He 
 was terrified by their utter listlessness. He 
 felt that unless roused by some great shock 
 she would die where she stood. 
 
 " Listen, Eachel," said he firmly, so as to 
 stir her into some life by the shock. " This 
 man has doubtless been deceiving you all 
 along. Either his story or his name must be 
 false, and whether the marriage was true or 
 not, he has taken away all proof of it. Do 
 you understand now, my poor girl ?" 
 
 " She doesn't understand — not one word," 
 whispered Jane Sedley, plucking at Mr. 
 Grasme's sleeve. " Leave her, sir, just one 
 minute, and let me speak to you. D'ye see 
 this ?" And she held out to him a scrap of 
 paper whereon were written a few lines in 
 an evidently feigned and awkward hand.
 
 384 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 " What is it ?" 
 
 " I'm not quite clear, sir, though I can 
 guess. But it came from him^ and I durst 
 not show it her, she took on so about the 
 money. Kead it, Mr. Grseme, please." 
 
 Ninian read it, and shuddered in the read- 
 ing. Then he glanced at the unhappy girl, 
 whose death-warrant — nay, the doom of 
 worse than death — was noAv in his hand. 
 Even his firm spirit quailed at the thought 
 of what he had to communicate. 
 
 " It is a cruel — wicked thingf, God knows ! 
 And He will assuredly punish it." 
 
 " Amen !" said faithful Jane Sedley ; and 
 the little Avithered face grew almost grand 
 in its denunciation. " That means, sir, that 
 my poor young mistress is " 
 
 " Hush, look at her !" 
 
 They might well look. She had stirred 
 from her motionless posture, and turned her 
 face towards them. It was like that of a 
 person rising out of a cataleptic trance, in 
 which though the body seemed dead tlie 
 senses and perceptions were awake. She
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 385 
 
 had evidently heard all that passed. She did 
 not speak, but her eyes were fixed upon the 
 paper with a horrible stare, and there was a 
 quivering in her fingers as if she wished to 
 take it, 
 
 " Let her !" said Jane Sedley ; "let her 
 read and know what a villain he is ; then, 
 maybe, she'll forget him." 
 
 Ninian also judged it best that with her 
 own eyes she should read her fate. He 
 placed the letter in her hand, but in vain; 
 her poor burning eyeballs seemed to have 
 no power to discern the words. 
 
 " Shall I read it ?" said Ninian, feeling 
 that somehow or other the truth must be 
 told. Rachel assented. 
 
 Thus the paper ran: — " 'If the woman, 
 Rachel Armstrong, calling herself my wife, 
 should persist in so doing, I hereby declare 
 that Vv^hat she chooses to consider a marriage 
 was a mere jest to ease her conscience. She 
 is not my wife, and I never will acknow- 
 ledoje her as such. It is useless for her to 
 seek me, as she knows nothing of me — not 
 
 VOL. I. 2 c
 
 386 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 even my true name ; and I would advise 
 her to forget she ever heard one which has 
 really no existence, that of G. S.' " 
 
 " My mistress, my mistress !" cried Jane 
 Sedley, and darted forward to her aid. 
 
 But Rachel never stirred. Slowly, slowly, 
 the lids fell over her wide-open glassy eyes ; 
 her hand dropped at her side ; she shivered 
 all over like one who through death-throes 
 passes into a new existence. This lasted a 
 few minutes, and then she stood upright. 
 
 " Come, let us go !" Words clear, dis- 
 tinct, spoken in a voice natural, yet most 
 unnatural, as it were another woman speak- 
 ing, and not Rachel. She moved across the 
 room steadily. She even turned back a 
 little way to hold out her hand to Ninian ; it 
 felt like a dead hand, so nerveless, so icy 
 cold. 
 
 "Let me go with you; or else, will you 
 come to The Gowans?" he entreated, but 
 was repelled. 
 
 " It is better not, sir," Jane Sedley added, 
 as she prepared to follow. " Leave her to
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY. 387 
 
 me : I know a place where I can take her 
 to, and where she will be safe and quiet." 
 ^' Where is it ?" 
 
 " I'll come and tell you to-morrow." 
 Ninian accompanied them to the door 
 only. The last he saw of Rachel was as she 
 stood under the lamp-light, gazing with 
 stern, hard, unblenching face into the black, 
 black night. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
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