r when he
arrived at the house.

Did this trim maid-servant know? Was there anything of welcome in the
demure smile? He followed her; his face was pale, though he knew it not;
in the dusk of the room he was left alone.

But what was this on the table? He almost uttered a cry as his
bewildered eyes fixed themselves on it. The very bouquet he had sent the
previous evening; and behold--behold!--the red rose wanting! And then,
at the same moment, he turned; and there was a vision of something all
in white--that came to him timidly--all in white but for the red star of
love shining there. And she did not speak at all; but she buried her
head in his bosom; and he held her hands tight.

And now what will Ulva say--and the lonely shores of Fladda--and the
distant Dutchman roused from his winter sleep amidst the wild waves? Far
away over the white sands of Iona--and the sunlight must be shining
there now--there is many a sacred spot fit for the solemn plighting of
lovers' vows; and if there is any organ wanted, what more noble than the
vast Atlantic rollers booming into the Bourg and Gribun caves? Surely
they must know already; for the sea-birds have caught the cry; and there
is a sound all through the glad rushing of the morning seas like the
sound of wedding-bells. _There is a bride coming to Castle Dare_--the
islands listen; and the wild sea calls again; and the green shores of
Ulva grow greener still in the sunlight. There is a bride coming to
Castle Dare; and the bride is dressed all in white--only she wears a red
rose.

CHAPTER XXIV.

ENTHUSIASMS.

She was seated alone, her arms on the table, her head bent down. There
was no red rose now in the white morning-dress, for she had given it to
him when he left. The frail November sunshine streamed into the room
and put a shimmer of gold on the soft brown of her hair.

It was a bold step she had taken, without counsel of any one. Her dream
was now to give up everything that she had hitherto cared about, and to
go away into private life to play the part of Lady Bountiful. And if
doubts about the strength of her own resolution occasionally crossed her
mind, could she not appeal for aid and courage to him who would always
be by her side? When she became a Macleod, she would have to accept the
motto of the Macleods. That motto is, _Hold Fast_.

She heard her sister come into the house, and she raised her head.
Presently Carry opened the door; and it was clear she w