Baron would approve of the entertainment
she had ordered in expectation of so many guests; and that they would
find such other accommodations provided as might in some degree support
the ancient hospitality of Tully-Veolan. It is impossible to describe the
pleasure which this assurance gave the Baron, who, with an air of
gallantry half appertaining to the stiff Scottish laird and half to the
officer in the French service, offered his arm to the fair speaker, and
led the way, in something between a stride and a minuet step, into the
large dining parlour, followed by all the rest of the good company.

By dint of Saunderson's directions and exertions, all here, as well as in
the other apartments, had been disposed as much as possible according to
the old arrangement; and where new movables had been necessary, they had
been selected in the same character with the old furniture. There was one
addition to this fine old apartment, however, which drew tears into the
Baron's eyes. It was a large and spirited painting, representing Fergus
Mac-Ivor and Waverley in their Highland dress, the scene a wild, rocky,
and mountainous pass, down which the clan were descending in the
background. It was taken from a spirited sketch, drawn while they were in
Edinburgh by a young man of high genius, and had been painted on a
full-length scale by an eminent London artist. Raeburn himself (whose
'Highland Chiefs' do all but walk out of the canvas) could not have done
more justice to the subject; and the ardent, fiery, and impetuous
character of the unfortunate Chief of Glennaquoich was finely contrasted
with the contemplative, fanciful, and enthusiastic expression of his
happier friend. Beside this painting hung the arms which Waverley had
borne in the unfortunate civil war. The whole piece was beheld with
admiration and deeper feelings.

Men must, however, eat, in spite both of sentiment and vertu; and the
Baron, while he assumed the lower end of the table, insisted that Lady
Emily should do the honours of the head, that they might, he said, set a
meet example to the YOUNG FOLK. After a pause of deliberation, employed
in adjusting in his own brain the precedence between the Presbyterian
kirk and Episcopal church of Scotland, he requested Mr. Morton, as the
stranger, would crave a blessing, observing that Mr. Rubrick, who was at
HOME, would return thanks for the distinguished mercies it had been his
lot to experience. The dinner was excellent.