"I don’t care—I must try what I can do—for I fear I am responsible," Mary said, in a kind of desperation; and then she turned to the young Highland lass: "Barbara, we shall want the carriage at once—as soon as ever the horses can be put to. Tell Sandy we are going over to find Mr. Pettigrew; he can come along and meet us. Tell him not to lose a second."
And almost directly afterwards the two girls were out-of-doors, hurrying along to the other side of the village, where was the Minister’s cottage. Käthchen was unmistakeably frightened; but all the same she ventured to say—
"Well, Mamie, your friends in London have almost given up asking when you are going to marry your cousin—you have kept him at arm’s length so long. But I think if Mr. Meredyth were here just now, he would have a very good chance."
"Why?" said Mary, with a certain coldness.
"Because you want a man’s assistance and advice," said Käthchen. "Isn’t it as clear as daylight? The moment this news comes, you look round for some man to help you. Is the head keeper there? No. Or the under-keeper? No. Then you think of the Minister—anybody so long as he is a man. All quite natural, of course. Only I think if Mr. Frank Meredyth were here—and you finding yourself in constant trouble and perplexity—well, I think he would soon take up a very important position. He might even persuade you to let him send in to Inverness for a wedding-ring."
"People don’t get married in order to make peace among their tenantry!" said Mary, a little proudly.
"Is he coming here in August?" asked the shrewd Käthchen.
"Fred wants me to ask him," Mary said, briefly; indeed, at such a time she was not thinking of any suitor; she was thinking of what might even now be going forward on the shores of Minard Bay.
The Rev. Mr. Pettigrew received the intelligence of the rising with a calm and gentle compassion.
"Dear me, dear me!" he said, in his high-pitched, unnatural voice, and he thoughtfully stroked his long and straggling beard. "What a sad thing to think of, when brethren might be living together in peace and ahmity! The heart of man is full of dangerous possibeelities—it is a sad thing to think of—at this season of the year, when all nature seems to know that the verdant spring is around us—when all is harmony and peace—to think that angry passions should arise in the heart of man—"