CHAPTER XXIII
INTRIGUES OF SOCIETY AND LOVE
Colonel Talbot became more kindly in his demeanour towards Waverley after
the confidence he had reposed in him, and, as they were necessarily much
together, the character of the Colonel rose in Waverley's estimation.
There seemed at first something harsh in his strong expressions of
dislike and censure, although no one was in the general case more open to
conviction. The habit of authority had also given his manners some
peremptory hardness, notwithstanding the polish which they had received
from his intimate acquaintance with the higher circles. As a specimen of
the military character, he differed from all whom Waverley had as yet
seen. The soldiership of the Baron of Bradwardine was marked by pedantry;
that of Major Melville by a sort of martinet attention to the minutiae
and technicalities of discipline, rather suitable to one who was to
manoeuvre a battalion than to him who was to command an army; the
military spirit of Fergus was so much warped and blended with his plans
and political views, that it was less that of a soldier than of a petty
sovereign. But Colonel Talbot was in every point the English soldier.
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