strong constitutional sense of
what was fair, and a conscience disobeyed becomes a cancer.

In this evil mood he received from some one--all his life Donal
believed it was Fergus--a hint concerning the relations between his
daughter and his tenant's herd-boy. To describe his feelings at the
bare fact that such a hint was possible, would be more labour than
the result would repay.--What! his own flesh and blood, the heiress
of Glashruach, derive pleasure from the boorish talk of such a
companion! It could not be true, when the mere thought, without the
belief of it, filled him with such indignation! He was overwhelmed
with a righteous disgust. He did himself the justice of making
himself certain before he took measures; but he never thought of
doing them the justice of acquainting himself first with the nature
of the intercourse they held. But it mattered little; for he would
have found nothing in that to give him satisfaction, even if the
thing itself had not been outrageous. He watched and waited, and
more than once pretended to go from home: at last one morning, from
the larch-wood, he saw the unnatural girl seated with her maid on
the bank of the river, the cow-herd reading to them, and on the
other side the dumb idiot lying listening. He was almost beside
himself--with what, I can hardly define. In a loud voice of bare
command he called to her to come to him. With a glance of terror at
Nicie she rose, and they went up through the larches together.

I will not spend my labour upon a reproduction of the verbal torrent
of wrath, wounded dignity, disgust, and contempt, with which the
father assailed his shrinking, delicate, honest-minded woman-child.
For Nicie, he dismissed her on the spot. Not another night would
he endure her in the house, after her abominable breach of
confidence! She had to depart without even a good-bye from Ginevra,
and went home weeping in great dread of what her mother would say.

"Lassie," said Janet, when she heard her story, "gien onybody be to
blame it's mysel'; for ye loot me ken ye gaed whiles wi' yer bonnie
missie to hae a news wi' Donal, an' I saw an' see noucht 'at's wrang
intill't. But the fowk o' this warl' has ither w'ys o' jeedgin' o'
things, an' I maun bethink mysel' what lesson o' the serpent's
wisdom I hae to learn frae 't. Ye're walcome hame, my bonnie lass.
Ye ken I aye keep the wee closet ready for ony o' ye 'at micht come
ohn expeckit."

Nicie, however, ha