 the case.
    There already existed in his bosom two contradictory passions - a desire to
revenge the death of his father, strangely qualified by admiration of his
enemy's daughter. Against the former feeling he had struggled, until it seemed
to him upon the wane; against the latter he used no means of resistance, for he
did not suspect its existence. That this was actually the case, was chiefly
evinced by his resuming his resolution to leave Scotland. Yet, though such was
his purpose, he remained day after day at Wolf's Crag, without taking measures
for carrying it into execution. It is true that he had written to one or two
kinsmen, who resided in a distant quarter of Scotland, and particularly to the
Marquis of A--, intimating his purpose; and when pressed upon the subject by
Bucklaw, he was wont to allege the necessity of waiting for their reply,
especially that of the Marquis, before taking so decisive a measure.
    The Marquis was rich and powerful; and although he was suspected to
entertain sentiments unfavourable to the government established at the
Revolution, he had nevertheless address enough to head a party in the Scottish
Privy Council, connected with the high church faction in England, and powerful
enough to menace those to whom the Lord Keeper adhered, with a probable
subversion of their power. The consulting with a personage of such importance
was a plausible excuse, which Ravenswood used to Bucklaw, and probably to
himself, for continuing his residence at Wolf's Crag; and it was rendered yet
more so by a general report which began to be current, of a probable change of
ministers and measures in the Scottish administration. These rumours, strongly
asserted by some, and as resolutely denied by others, as their wishes or
interest dictated, found their way even to the ruinous Tower of Wolf's Crag,
chiefly through the medium of Caleb the butler, who, among his other
excellences, was an ardent politician, and seldom made an excursion from the old
fortress to the neighbouring village of Wolf's Hope, without bringing back what
tidings were current in the vicinity.
    But if Bucklaw could not offer any satisfactory objections to the delay of
the Master in leaving Scotland, he did not the less suffer with impatience the
state of inaction to which it confined him; and it was only the ascendency which
his new companion had acquired over him, that induced him to submit to a course
of life so alien to his habits and inclinations.
    »You were wont to be thought a stirring active young fellow, Master,« was
his frequent remonstrance; »yet
