onour paid by them, and,
indeed, the old Arabella Churchill tradition was still so fresh, that
they had some excuse for so thinking.

It was, indeed, to see the marvel of the Bothy of Blairmore that the
Prince had come so far out of his road. He was on his way back from
Ireland where, as usual, he had been sent, somewhat optimistically, to
solve the Irish question. As the Prince who could easily most be spared,
he had been ordered to show himself in the regions which had been
convulsed by the rising of '98. He had escaped without hurt and was now
on his way Londonwards. So he could afford to halt a while to behold a
wonder of grace and beauty. The dangers of his Irish campaign deserved
at least some recompense.

Besides Everard of the _Britomart_ had talked at some length to him. The
girl of the yellow sandals whom the "press" had found in the Bothy of
Blairmore, was still the talk of the officers' mess when that ship had
been sent to Belfast Lough to ferry successful Royalty over to a more
peaceful country.

Captain Laurence felt at least something of shame at the position in
which he found himself, but in the presence of the Duke and his evil
counsellor, Lord Wargrove, he was compelled to be silent. He could not
even send a message to the girl's father, for the Prince's suite and the
senior officers of his regiment were the guests of Adam Ferris at Cairn
Ferris.

"Your Highness will remember," he ventured to suggest, "that these
Galloway squires are apt to carry the vendetta rather far. They are not
so easily bought off with a title as others farther south."

"Nonsense," said the Duke, "if the girl's father does not see
reason--why, Julian Wemyss at least knows what is good for his niece.
She had better be a peeress in her own right and married with the left
hand to my father's son, than stay here to spend her life with the first
clodhopper who will make her his housekeeper, instead of, what she was
born to be, the toast of London society."

"You are sure about the title," queried my Lord Wargrove cynically, "or
are you only going to promise like the rest of them?"

"Oh," said the Duke, "I am sure George owes me more than that. I am the
only one of our family who has never pestered him. Besides, I have got
him out of one or two difficult ditches in his life, and he will give me
the title right enough if I get the girl."

"There will be some difficulty," said my Lord, thoughtfully rubbing his
chin with his fo