They held the language of
discontent with government, threw out no obscure hints of revenge, and
that of poor Aunt Rachel, which plainly asserted the justice of the
Stuart cause, was held to contain the open avowal of what the others only
ventured to insinuate.
'Permit me another question, Mr. Waverley,' said Major Melville. 'Did you
not receive repeated letters from your commanding officer, warning you
and commanding you to return to your post, and acquainting you with the
use made of your name to spread discontent among your soldiers?'
'I never did, Major Melville. One letter, indeed, I received from him,
containing a civil intimation of his wish that I would employ my leave of
absence otherwise than in constant residence at Bradwardine, as to which,
I own, I thought he was not called on to interfere; and, finally, I
received, on the same day on which I observed myself superseded in the
"Gazette," a second letter from Colonel Gardiner, commanding me to join
the regiment, an order which, owing to my absence, already mentioned and
accounted for, I received too late to be obeyed. If there were any
intermediate letters, and certainly from the Colonel's high character I
think it probable that there were, they have never reached me.
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