Connecting it with the letters he had just
received from his family, he could not but suppose that it was designed
to make him feel, in his present situation, the same pressure of
authority which had been exercised in his father's case, and that the
whole was a concerted scheme to depress and degrade every member of the
Waverley family.
Without a pause, therefore, Edward wrote a few cold lines, thanking his
lieutenant-colonel for past civilities, and expressing regret that he
should have chosen to efface the remembrance of them by assuming a
different tone towards him. The strain of his letter, as well as what he
(Edward) conceived to be his duty in the present crisis, called upon him
to lay down his commission; and he therefore inclosed the formal
resignation of a situation which subjected him to so unpleasant a
correspondence, and requested Colonel Gardiner would have the goodness to
forward it to the proper authorities.
Having finished this magnanimous epistle, he felt somewhat uncertain
concerning the terms in which his resignation ought to be expressed, upon
which subject he resolved to consult Fergus Mac-Ivor. It may be observed
in passing that the bold and prompt habits of thinking, acting, and
speaking which distinguished this young Chieftain had given him a
considerable ascendency over the mind of Waverley.
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