The letter was sealed accordingly, covering a formal resignation of the commission, and Mac-Ivor dispatched it with some letters of his own by a special messenger, with charge to put them into the nearest post office in the Lowlands.

CHAPTER XXVI

AN ECLAIRCISSEMENT

The hint which the Chieftain had thrown out respecting Flora was not unpremeditated.  He had observed with great satisfaction the growing attachment of Waverley to his sister, nor did he see any bar to their union, excepting the situation which Waverley’s father held in the ministry, and Edward’s own commission in the army of George II.  These obstacles were now removed, and in a manner which apparently paved the way for the son’s becoming reconciled to another allegiance.  In every other respect the match would be most eligible.  The safety, happiness, and honourable provision of his sister, whom he dearly loved, appeared to be ensured by the proposed union; and his heart swelled when he considered how his own interest would be exalted in the eyes of the ex-monarch to whom he had dedicated his service, by an alliance with one of those ancient, powerful, and wealthy English families of the steady Cavalier faith, to awaken whose decayed attachment to the Stuart family was now a matter of such vital importance to the Stuart cause.  Nor could Fergus perceive any obstacle to such a scheme.  Waverley’s attachment was evident; and as his person was handsome, and his taste apparently coincided with her own, he anticipated no opposition on the part of Flora.  Indeed, between his ideas of patriarchal power, and those which he had acquired in France respecting the disposal of females in marriage, any opposition from his sister, dear as she was to him, would have been the last obstacle on which he would have calculated, even had the union been less eligible.

Influenced by these feelings, the Chief now led Waverley in quest of Miss Mac-Ivor, not without the hope that the present agitation of his guest’s spirits might give him courage to cut short what Fergus termed the romance of the courtship.  They found Flora, with her faithful attendants, Una and Cathleen, busied in preparing what appeared to Waverley to be white bridal favours.  Disguising as well as he could the agitation of his mind, Waverley asked for what joyful occasion Miss Mac-Ivor made such ample preparation.

‘It is for Fergus’s bridal,’ she said, smiling.

‘Indeed!’ said Edward; ’he has kept his secret well.  I hope he will allow me to be his bride’s-man.’

‘That is a man’s office, but not yours, as Beatrice says,’ retorted Flora.

‘And who is the fair lady, may I be permitted to ask, Miss Mac-Ivor?’

‘Did not I tell you long since, that Fergus wooed no bride but Honour?’ answered Flora.

’And am I then incapable of being his assistant and counsellor in the pursuit of honour?’ said our hero, colouring deeply.  ’Do I rank so low in your opinion?’