"
"It only declared surprise, madam," cried Murray, "the surprise of a
modest and ingenuous mind that did not expect to recognize its mountain
friend in the person of the protector of Scotland."
Lady mar put up her lip, and turning to the still silent Lord Ruthven,
again addressed him. "Stepmothers, my lord," said she, have hard
duties to perform; and when we think we fulfill them best, our
suspicious husband comes with a magician's wand, and turns all our good
to evil."
"Array your good in a less equivocal garb, my dear Joanna," answered
the Earl of Mar, rather ashamed of the hasty words which indeed the
suspicion of a moment had drawn from his lips; "judge my child by her
usual conduct, not by an accidental appearance of inconsistency, and I
shall ever be grateful for your solicitude. But in this instance,
though she might betray the weakness of an enfeebled constitution, it
was certainly not the frailty of a love-sick heart."
"Judge me by your own rule, dear Donald," cried his wife, blandishly
kissing his forehead, "and you will not again wither the mother of your
boy with such a look as I just now received!"
Glad to see this reconciliation, Lord Ruthven made a sign to Murray,
and they withdrew together.
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