said Lady Emily, as she dropped a few tears. "I verily believe I should
have wept outright had I not happily descried Dr. Redgill shrugging his
shoulders at me; that has given a filip to my spirits. After all, 'tis
perhaps a foolish action I've committed. The icy bonds of matrimony are
upon me already; I feel myself turning into a fond, faithful, rational,
humble, meek-spirited wife! Alas! I must now turn my head into a museum,
and hang up all my smart sayings inside my brain, there to petrify, as
warnings to all pert misses. Dear Mary! if ever I am good for anything,
it will be to you I owe it!"

Mary could only embrace her cousin in silence, as she parted from her
brother and her with the deepest emotion, and, assisted by Colonel
Lennox (who was to follow), took her station by the side of her aunt.

"I wish you a pleasant journey, Miss Mary," cried Dr. Redgill. "The game
season is coming on, and--" But the carriage drove off; and the rest of
the sentence was dispersed by the wind; and all that could be collected
was, "grouse always acceptable--friends at a distance--roebuck stuffed
with heather carries well at all times," etc. etc.

To one less practised in her ways, and less gifted with patience, the
eternal babbling of Aunt Grizzy as a travelling companion would have
occasioned considerable ennui, if not spleen. There are perhaps few
greater trials of temper than that of travelling with a person who
thinks it necessary to be actively pleasant, without a moment's
intermission, from the rising till the setting sun. Grizzy was upon this
fatal plan, the rock of thousands! Silence she thought synonymous with
low spirits; and she talked, and wondered, and exclaimed incessantly,
and assured Mary she need not be uneasy, she was certain Colonel Lennox
would follow very soon; she had not the least doubt of that. She would
not be surprised if he Was to be at Lochmarlie almost as soon as
themselves; at any rate very soon after them.

But even these little torments were forgot by Mary when she found
herself again in her native land. The hills, the air, the waters, the
people, even the _peat-stacks_, had a charm that touched her heart,
and brought tears into her eyes as they pictured home. But her feelings
arose to rapture when Lochmarlie burst upon her view in all the
grandeur, beauty, and repose of a setting sun, shedding its farewell
rays of gold and purple, and tints of such matchless hue, as no pencil
ere can imitate--n