becomes less necessary to trace the progress of
his intercourse with the same accuracy. It is probable that a young man
accustomed to more cheerful society would have tired of the conversation of so
violent an assertor of the »boast of heraldry« as the Baron; but Edward found an
agreeable variety in that of Miss Bradwardine, who listened with eagerness to
his remarks upon literature, and showed great justness of taste in her answers.
The sweetness of her disposition had made her submit with complacency, and even
pleasure, to the course of reading prescribed by her father, although it not
only comprehended several heavy folios of history, but certain gigantic tomes in
high church polemics. In heraldry he was fortunately contented to give her only
such a slight tincture as might be acquired by perusal of the two folio volumes
of Nisbet. Rose was indeed the very apple of her father's eye. Her constant
liveliness, her attention to all those little observances most gratifying to
those who would never think of exacting them, her beauty, in which he recalled
the features of his beloved wife, her unfeigned piety, and the noble generosity
of her disposition, would have justified the affection of the most doting
father.
    His anxiety on her behalf did not, however, seem to extend itself in that
quarter, where, according to the general opinion, it is most efficiently
displayed; in labouring, namely, to establish her in life, either by a large
dowry or a wealthy marriage. By an old settlement, almost all the landed estates
of the Baron went, after his death, to a distant relation; and it was supposed
that Miss Bradwardine would remain but slenderly provided for, as the good
gentleman's cash matters had been too long under the exclusive charge of Bailie
Macwheeble, to admit of any great expectations from his personal succession. It
is true, the said Bailie loved his patron and his patron's daughter next
(although at an incomparable distance) to himself. He thought it was possible to
set aside the settlement on the male line, and had actually procured an opinion
to that effect (and, as he boasted, without a fee) from an eminent Scottish
counsel, under whose notice he contrived to bring the point while consulting him
regularly on some other business. But the Baron would not listen to such a
proposal for an instant. On the contrary, he used to have a perverse pleasure in
boasting that the barony of Bradwardine was a male fief, the first charter
having been given at that early period when women were not deemed capable to
hold a feudal grant; because, according to Les