 tossing her
head; »he may be as fair as a farthing candle for me.«
    »Is it not,« said Lady Margaret, »a blessed escape which we have made, out
of the hands of so desperate and bloodthirsty a fanatic?«
    »You are deceived, Madam,« said Lord Evandale; »Mr. Morton merits such a
title from no one, but least from us. That I am now alive, and that you are now
on your safe retreat to your friends, instead of being prisoners to a real
fanatical homicide, is solely and entirely owing to the prompt, active, and
energetic humanity of this young gentleman.«
    He then went into a particular narrative of the events with which the reader
is acquainted, dwelling upon the merits of Morton, and expatiating on the risk
at which he had rendered them these important services, as if he had been a
brother instead of a rival.
    »I were worse than ungrateful,« he said, »were I silent on the merits of the
man who has twice saved my life.«
    »I would willingly think well of Henry Morton, my lord,« replied Major
Bellenden; »and I own he has behaved handsomely to your Lordship and to us; but
I cannot have the same allowances which it pleases your lordship to entertain
for his present courses.«
    »You are to consider,« replied Lord Evandale, »that he has been partly
forced upon them by necessity; and I must add, that his principles, though
differing in some degree from my own, are such as to command respect.
Claverhouse, whose knowledge of men is not to be disputed, spoke justly of him
as to his extraordinary qualities - but with prejudice, and harshly, concerning
his principles and motives.«
    »You have not been long in learning all his extraordinary qualities, my
lord,« answered Major Bellenden. »I, who have known him from boyhood, could,
before this affair, have said much of his good principles and good-nature; but
as to his high talents« --
    »They were probably hidden, Major,« replied the generous Lord Evandale,
»even from himself, until circumstances called them forth; and, if I have
detected them, it was only because our intercourse and conversation turned on
momentous and important subjects. He is now labouring to bring this rebellion to
an end, and the terms he has proposed are so moderate, that they shall not want
my hearty recommendation.«
    »And have you hopes,« said Lady Margaret, »to accomplish a scheme
