shooting match.«
    »I am not sure,« hesitated Edith - »yet - I rather think not,« scarce
knowing what she replied.
    »It is he,« said Evandale, decidedly; »I know him well. A victor,« he
continued, somewhat haughtily, »ought to have interested a fair spectator more
deeply.«
    He then turned from Edith, and advancing towards the table at which
Claverhouse now placed himself, stood at a little distance, resting on his
sheathed broadsword, a silent, but not an unconcerned, spectator of that which
passed.
 

                                Chapter Twelfth

 O, my Lord, beware of jealousy.
                                                                        Othello.
 
To explain the deep effect which the few broken passages of the conversation we
have detailed made upon the unfortunate prisoner by whom they were overheard, it
is necessary to say something of his previous state of mind, and of the origin
of his acquaintance with Edith.
    Henry Morton was one of those gifted characters which possess a force of
talent unsuspected by the owner himself. He had inherited from his father an
undaunted courage, and a firm and uncompromising detestation of oppression,
whether in politics or religion. But his enthusiasm was unsullied by fanatic
zeal, and unleavened by the sourness of the puritanical spirit. From these his
mind had been freed, partly by the active exertions of his own excellent
understanding, partly by frequent and long visits at Major Bellenden's, where he
had an opportunity of meeting with many guests whose conversation taught him,
that goodness and worth were not limited to those of any single form of
religious observance.
    The base parsimony of his uncle had thrown many obstacles in the way of his
education; but he had so far improved the opportunities which offered
themselves, that his instructors as well as his friends were surprised at his
progress under such disadvantages. Still, however, the current of his soul was
frozen by a sense of dependence - of poverty - above all, of an imperfect and
limited education. These feelings impressed him with a diffidence and reserve,
which effectually concealed from all but very intimate friends, the extent of
talent and the firmness of character which we have stated him to be possessed
of. The circumstances of the times had added to this reserve an air of
indecision and indifference; for, being attached to neither of the factions
which divided the kingdom, he passed for dull, insensible, and uninfluenced by
the feeling of religion or of patriotism. No conclusion, however, could be more
unjust; and the reasons of the neutrality which he had hitherto professed had
root in very different and most praiseworthy motives. He had formed