s horse, assuring her that Davie's pony was quite able to
carry him; she had no inclination to ride, she said. But at last one
day, lest she should be guilty of unkindness, she consented, and so
enjoyed the ride--felt, indeed, so much the better for it, that she did
not thereafter so positively as before decline to allow her cousin to
look out for a horse fit to carry her; and Forgue, taking her consent
for granted, succeeded, with the help of the factor, in finding for her
a beautiful creature, just of the sort to please her. Almost at sight
of him she agreed to his purchase.

This put Forgue in great spirits, and much contentment with himself. He
did not doubt that, gaining thus opportunity so excellent, he would
quickly succeed in withdrawing her from the absurd influence which, to
his dismay, he discovered his enemy had in his absence gained over her.
He ought not to have been such a fool, he said to himself, as to leave
the poor child to the temptations naturally arising in such a dreary
solitude! He noted with satisfaction, however, that the parson's
daughter seemed to have forsaken the house. And now at last, having got
rid of the folly that a while possessed him, he was prepared to do his
duty by the family, and, to that end, would make unfaltering use of the
fascinations experience had taught him he was, in a most exceptional
degree, gifted with! He would at once take Arctura's education in his
own hands, and give his full energy to it! She should speedily learn
the difference between the assistance of a gentleman and that of a
clotpoll!

He had in England improved in his riding as well as his manners, and
knew at least how a gentleman, if not how a man, ought to behave to the
beast that carried him. Also, having ridden a good deal with ladies, he
was now able to give Arctura not a few hints to the improvement of her
seat, her hand, her courage; nor was there any nearer road, he judged
from what he knew of his cousin, to her confidence and gratitude, than
showing her a better way in a thing.

But thinking that in teaching her to ride he could make her forget the
man who had been teaching her to live, he was not a little mistaken in
the woman he desired to captivate.

He did not yet love her even in the way he called loving, else he might
have been less confident; but he found her very pleasing. Invigorated
by the bright frosty air, the life of the animal under her, and the
exultation of rapid motion, she se