CHAPTER LII
INTRIGUES OF SOCIETY AND LOVE
Colonel Talbot became more kindly in his demeanour towards Waverleyafter the confidence he had reposed in him; and as they were necessarilymuch together, the character of the Colonel rose in Waverley'sestimation. There seemed at first something harsh in his strongexpressions of dislike and censure, although no one was in the generalcase more open to conviction. The habit of authority had also given hismanners some peremptory hardness, notwithstanding the polish which theyhad received from his intimate acquaintance with the higher circles. Asa specimen of the military character, he differed from all whom Waverleyhad as yet seen. The soldiership of the Baron of Bradwardine was markedby pedantry; that of Major Melville by a sort of martinet attention tothe minutiae and technicalities of discipline, rather suitable to onewho was to manoeuvre a battalion, than to him who was to command anarmy; the military spirit of Fergus was so much warped and blended withhis plans and political views, that it was less that of a soldier thanof a petty sovereign. But Colonel Talbot was in every point the Englishsoldier. His whole soul was devoted to the service of his king andcountry, without feeling any pride in knowing the theory of his art withthe Baron, or its practical minutiae with the Major, or in applying hisscience to his own particular plans of ambition, like the Chieftainof Glennaquoich. Added to this, he was a man of extended knowledge andcultivated taste, although strongly tinged, as we have already observed,with those prejudices which are peculiarly English.
The character of Colonel Talbot dawned upon Edward by degrees; for thedelay of the Highlanders in the fruitless siege of Edinburgh Castleoccupied several weeks, during which Waverley had little to do,excepting to seek such amusement as society afforded. He would willinglyhave persuaded his new friend to become acquainted with some of hisformer intimates. But the Colonel, after one or two visits, shook hishead, and declined further experiment. Indeed he went further, andcharacterized the Baron as the most intolerable formal pedant he hadever had the misfortune to meet with, and the Chief of Glennaquoich asa Frenchified Scotchman, possessing all the cunning and plausibilityof the nation where he was educated, with the proud, vindictive, andturbulent humour of that of his birth. 'If the devil,' he said, 'hadsought out an agent expressly for the purpose of embroiling thismiserable country, I do not think he could find a better than sucha fellow as this, whose temper seems equally active, supple, andmischievous, and who is followed, and implicitly obeyed, by a gang ofsuch cut-throats as those whom you are pleased to admire so much.'
The ladies of the party did not escape his censure. He allowed thatFlora Mac-Ivor was a fine woman, and Rose Bradwardine a pretty girl.But he alleged that the former destroyed the effect of her beauty by anaffectation of the grand airs which she had probably seen practised atthe mock court of St. Germains. As for Rose Bradwardine, he said itwas impossible for any mortal to admire such a little uninformed thing,whose small portion of education was as ill adapted to her sex or youth,as if she had appeared with one of her father's old campaign-coats uponher person for her sole garment. Now much of this was mere spleen andprejudice in the excellent Colonel, with whom the white cockade on thebreast, the white rose in the hair, and the Mac at the beginning of aname, would have made a devil out of an angel; and indeed he himselfjocularly allowed, that he could not have endured Venus herself, if shehad been announced in a drawing-room by the name of Miss Mac-Jupiter.
Waverley, it may easily be believed, looked upon these young ladies withvery different eyes. During the period of the siege, he paid them almostdaily visits, although he observed with regret that his suit made aslittle progress in the affections of the former as the arms of theChevalier in subduing the fortress. She maintained with rigour the ruleshe had laid down of treating him with indifference, without eitheraffecting to avoid him, or to shun intercourse with him. Every word,every look, was strictly regulated to accord with her system, andneither the dejection of Waverley, nor the anger which Fergus scarcelysuppressed, could extend Flora's attention to Edward beyond thatwhich the most ordinary politeness demanded. On the other hand, RoseBradwardine gradually rose in Waverley's opinion. He had severalopportunities of remarking, that, as her extreme timidity wore off, hermanners received a higher character; that the agitating circumstancesof the stormy time seemed to call forth a certain dignity of feeling andexpression, which he had not formerly observed; and that she omittedno opportunity within her reach to extend her knowledge and refine hertaste.
Flora Mac-Ivor called Rose her pupil, and was attentive to assist her inher studies, and to fashion both her taste and understanding. It mighthave been remarked by a very close observer, that in the presence ofWaverley she was much more desirous to exhibit her friend's excellencesthan her own. But I must request of the reader to suppose, that thiskind and disinterested purpose was concealed by the most cautiousdelicacy, studiously shunning the most distant approach to affectation.So that it was as unlike the usual exhibition of one pretty womanaffecting to PRONER another, as the friendship of David and Jonathanmight be to the intimacy of two Bond-street loungers.
The fact is, that, though the effect was felt, the cause could hardly beobserved. Each of the ladies, like two excellent actresses, were perfectin their parts, and performed them to the delight of the audience; andsuch being the case, it was almost impossible to discover that theelder constantly ceded to her friend that which was most suitable to hertalents.
But to Waverley, Rose Bradwardine possessed an attraction which few mencan resist, from the marked interest which she took in everything thateffected him. She was too young and too inexperienced to estimate thefull force of the constant attention which she paid to him. Her fatherwas too abstractedly immersed in learned and military discussionsto observe her partiality, and Flora Mac-Ivor did not alarm her byremonstrance, because she saw in this line of conduct the most probablechance of her friend securing at length a return of affection.
The truth is, that, in her first conversation after their meeting,Rose had discovered the state of her mind to that acute and intelligentfriend, although she was not herself aware of it. From that time,Flora was not only determined upon the final rejection of Waverley'saddresses, but became anxious that they should, if possible, betransferred to her friend. Nor was she less interested in this plan,though her brother had from time to time talked, as between jest andearnest, of paying his suit to Miss Bradwardine. She knew that Fergushad the true continental latitude of opinion respecting the institutionof marriage, and would not have given his hand to an angel, unless forthe purpose of strengthening his alliances, and increasing his influenceand wealth. The Baron's whim of transferring his estate to the distantheir-male instead of his own daughter, was therefore likely to be aninsurmountable obstacle to his entertaining any serious thoughts of RoseBradwardine. Indeed, Fergus's brain was a perpetual workshop of schemeand intrigue of every possible kind and description; while, like many amechanic of more ingenuity than steadiness, he would often unexpectedlyand without any apparent motive, abandon one plan, and go earnestlyto work upon another, which was either fresh from the forge of hisimagination, or had at some former period been flung aside halffinished. It was therefore often difficult to guess what line of conducthe might finally adopt upon any given occasion.
Although Flora was sincerely attached to her brother, whose highenergies might indeed have commanded her admiration even without theties which bound them together, she was by no means blind to his faults,which she considered as dangerous to the hopes of any woman who shouldfound her ideas of a happy marriage in the peaceful enjoyment ofdomestic society, and the exchange of mutual and engrossing affection.The real disposition of Waverley, on the other hand, notwithstandinghis dreams of tented fields and military honour, seemed exclusivelydomestic. He asked and received no share in the busy scenes which wereconstantly going on around him, and was rather annoyed than interestedby the discussion of contending claims, rights, and interests, whichoften passed in his presence. All this pointed him out as th
e personformed to make happy a spirit like that of Rose, which corresponded withhis own.
She remarked this point in Waverley's character one day while she satwith Miss Bradwardine. 'His genius and elegant taste,' answered Rose,'cannot be interested in such trifling discussions. What is it to him,for example, whether the Chief of the Macindallaghers, who has broughtout only fifty men, should be a colonel or a captain? and how couldMr. Waverley be supposed to interest himself in the violent altercationbetween your brother and young Corrinaschian, whether the post of honouris due to the eldest cadet of a clan or the youngest?' 'My dear Rose,if he were the hero you suppose him, he would interest himself in thesematters, not indeed as important in themselves, but for the purposeof mediating between the ardent spirits who actually do make them thesubject of discord. You saw when Corrinaschian raised his voice in greatpassion, and laid his hand upon his sword, Waverley lifted his head asif he had just awaked from a dream, and asked, with great composure,what the matter was.'
'Well, and did not the laughter they fell into at his absence of mind,serve better to break off the dispute than anything he could have saidto them?'
'True, my dear,' answered Flora; 'but not quite so creditably forWaverley as if he had brought them to their senses by force of reason.'
'Would you have him peacemaker general between all the gunpowderHighlanders in the army? I beg your pardon, Flora--your brother, youknow, is out of the question; he has more sense than half of them. Butcan you think the fierce, hot, furious spirits, of whose brawls we seemuch, and hear more, and who terrify me out of my life every day in theworld, are at all to be compared to Waverley?'
'I do not compare him with those uneducated men, my dear Rose. I onlylament, that, with his talents and genius, he does not assume that placein society for which they eminently fit him, and that he does not lendtheir full impulse to the noble cause in which he has enlisted. Arethere not Lochiel, and P--, and M--, and G--, all men of the highesteducation, as well as the first talents?--why will he not stoop likethem to be alive and useful?--I often believe his zeal is frozen by thatproud cold-blooded Englishman, whom he now lives with so much.'
'Colonel Talbot?--he is a very disagreeable person, to be sure. He looksas if he thought no Scottish woman worth the trouble of handing her acup of tea. But Waverley is so gentle, so well informed'--
'Yes,' said Flora, smiling; 'he can admire the moon, and quote a stanzafrom Tasso.'
'Besides, you know how he fought,' added Miss Bradwardine.
'For mere fighting,' answered Flora, 'I believe all men (that is, whodeserve the name) are pretty much alike; there is generally more couragerequired to run away. They have, besides, when confronted with eachother, a certain instinct for strife, as we see in other male animals,such as dogs, bulls, and so forth. But high and perilous enterprise isnot Waverley's forte. He would never have been his celebrated ancestorSir Nigel, but only Sir Nigel's eulogist and poet. I will tell you wherehe will be at home, my dear, and in his place,--in the quiet circleof domestic happiness, lettered indolence, and elegant enjoyments, ofWaverley-Honour. And he will refit the old library in the most exquisiteGothic taste, and garnish its shelves, with the rarest and most valuablevolumes; and he will draw plans and landscapes, and write verses, andrear temples, and dig grottoes;--and he will stand in a clear summernight in the colonnade before the hall, and gaze on the deer as theystray in the moonlight, or lie shadowed by the boughs of the huge oldfantastic oaks;--and he will repeat verses to his beautiful wife, whowill hang upon his arm;--and he will be a happy man.'
'And she will be a happy woman,' thought poor Rose. But she only sighed,and dropped the conversation.