'That I may be certain,' concluded the
letter, 'that this actually reaches you, I despatch it by Corporal Tims
of your troop, with orders to deliver it into your own hand.'
Upon reading these letters Waverley, with great bitterness of feeling,
was compelled to make the amende honorable to the memory of the brave and
excellent writer; for surely, as Colonel Gardiner must have had every
reason to conclude they had come safely to hand, less could not follow,
on their being neglected, than that third and final summons, which
Waverley actually received at Glennaquoich, though too late to obey it.
And his being superseded, in consequence of his apparent neglect of this
last command, was so far from being a harsh or severe proceeding, that it
was plainly inevitable. The next letter he unfolded was from the major of
the regiment, acquainting him that a report to the disadvantage of his
reputation was public in the country, stating, that one Mr. Falconer of
Ballihopple, or some such name, had proposed in his presence a
treasonable toast, which he permitted to pass in silence, although it was
so gross an affront to the royal family that a gentleman in company, not
remarkable for his zeal for government, had never-the-less taken the
matter up, and that, supposing the account true, Captain Waverley had
thus suffered another, comparatively unconcerned, to resent an affront
directed against him personally as an officer, and to go out with the
person by whom it was offered.
Pages:
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686