did the same thing in London, and in the face of
other men, Louis did not enjoy the process so much.

"Hech, my daisy," said Miss Aline, as she and Patsy went back to her
parlour after the Prince of Altschloss had taken his leave, "that
laddie, Louis, has ower muckle o' his mither in him. She's a McBride,
and guid blood, but Dame Lucy is juist like some preserves. Ye put in
good berries. Ye strain to perfection. The sugar and the spice and the
correct time for boiling--skimming and stirring done with your own
hand--yet after all the stuff will not jell. It will harden in no mould
because it is unstable as water. That is the boy's mother, the Lady
Lucy. As for the lad, God send him something that will harden him, so
that when his grandfather dies, another De Raincy of the right breed may
rule in his stead. At present he is overly much after the pattern of his
mother!"

"Well," said Patsy, with her hands rolled in the fluffy ends of her
muslin scarf, "don't blame me, Miss Aline. I do my best to toughen him,
and then he goes and cries to you!"

"I wonder, dear," said the old lady, after a silence which lasted quite
five minutes, "if you could not try giving him a good conceit of
himself. My father used to say that if ye tell a dog all the time that
he is a worthless puppy and will never be good for anything, he will
herd the sheep but poorly on the hill."

CHAPTER XXI

THE CAVE OF ADULLAM

Night by night the mists came up from the sea. Morning by morning the
gusts from the hills blew them back again. Winter began to settle on the
rugged confines of the moors, and still Julian Wemyss stayed on with
Stair Garland at the Bothy on the Wild of Blairmore. First, because it
agreed with the mystery-loving side of his nature, and also because, so
long as the weight of Napoleon's rule pressed upon Europe, he did not
know where he could be safer. At Vienna, perhaps, but so long as the
Princess Elsa remained at Hanover Lodge, he could not bring himself to
make the long and circuitous journey by Gibraltar and Trieste.

And, indeed, he was in no great hurry to move. He had been outlawed for
failing to appear, even as he had expected, to answer for the killing of
Lord Wargrove. Also he knew that the wounding of the Duke of Lyonesse
had been laid to his charge. The word which had gone forth that his
capture would be grateful to the Regency and its camarilla of Dukes,
would naturally sharpen the pursuit.

Fresh bodies of