With Frederick the Great: A Story of the Seven Years' War

by G. A. Henty

"For your sake, I am glad that you have come into this Scottish estate; but for my own I care nothing for it, and indeed, am in one respect sorry; for you will naturally wish that, for a part of the time each year, she should reside there with you.

"Now, that has not been so dreadful, has it?"

"Not in any way, count; and I thank you, with all my heart, for your kindness. My feeling for your daughter has grown up gradually, and it was not until I was last here that I recognized how much I cared for her. I then, when I went away, resolved it would be better for me not to return; at any rate, not to stay here again, until I heard that she was married. It is true that I talked of paying you a visit, even were Dresden captured; but I knew that when the time came I should be able to find excuses for not doing so. During the time that I was laid up with fever, she was ever in my mind; but the necessity for my remaining away from here only impressed itself, more and more strongly, upon me.

"Then you appeared, and carried me off. I could not refuse to come, without giving my reason; but I fully determined that in no way, by look or word, would I allow her to see that I regarded her other than as the daughter of my kind host. I have had a hard fight to keep that resolution, for each day my feelings have grown stronger and stronger; and I had resolved that, before I left, I would own to you, not my presumption, for I have not presumed, but my weakness, and ask you to press me no more to come here, until your daughter was married."

"You have acted just as I should have expected from you, Drummond. The great hope of the countess and myself has been to see Thirza happily married. Fortune or position in a suitor have been altogether immaterial points, excepting that we would assure ourselves that it was not to obtain these that her hand was sought. From the first we have regarded you, not only with gratitude, but with deep interest. It seemed to us only natural that, after so strange and romantic a beginning to your acquaintance, Thirza should regard you with more than ordinary interest. To her you would be a sort of hero of romance. We watched you closely then, and found that in addition to your bravery you possessed all the qualities that we could desire. You were modest, frank, and natural. So far from making much of the service you had rendered us, you were always unwilling to speak of it; and when that could not be avoided, you made as little of it as possible.

"I spoke several times of you to Marshal Keith, and he said that he regarded you almost as a son, and spoke in the highest terms of you. We saw, or fancied we saw, in the pleasure which Thirza betrayed when you returned after each of your absences; and in the anxiety which she evinced when battles had taken place, until I could ascertain that your name was not among the lists of killed and wounded; that what we had thought likely was taking place, and that she regarded you with an interest beyond that which would be excited by gratitude only.

"As to yourself, and your thoughts on the subject, we knew nothing. We never saw anything in your manner to her that showed that your heart was affected. You chatted with her as freely and naturally as to us and, even since you have been here this time, we have observed no change in you. And yet, it seemed to us well-nigh impossible that a young soldier should be thrown so much with a girl who, though it is her father who says so, is exceptionally pretty and of charming manners, and continue to regard her with indifference; unless, indeed, he loved elsewhere, which we were sure in your case could hardly be. I had however, like yourself, determined to speak on the matter before you left us; as, had you not felt towards her as we hoped, the countess and I agreed that it would be better, for her sake, that we should not press you to come to stay with us again until she was married.

"I am truly glad that the matter stands as we had hoped. I can only repeat that there is no one to whom we could intrust her happiness so confidently as to you."

"I will do my best to justify your confidence, count," Fergus said warmly.

"Now I will go into the house and tell my wife, and then we can acquaint Thirza. It is the custom here, at least among people of rank, for the parents first to acquaint their daughter with a proposal that has been made for her hand, and of their wishes on the subject. Parental control is not carried to the point, now, that it used to be; and maidens sometimes entertain different opinions to those of their parents. Happily, in the present case, there is no reason to fear that Thirza will exhibit any contumacy.