“Would to God,” he said, “I did not love her! Shall I resign her? No, no! I cannot. Yet—
“‘Tis woman that seduces all mankind;
By her we first were taught the wheedling arts.’”
Worse was to follow.
Right good fellow though he was, jealousy could make a very devil of Craig.
“For jealousy is the injured woman’s hell.”
And man’s also. One day, close by the Dee, while Craig was putting his rod together previous to making a cast, Laird Fletcher came out from a thicket, also rod in hand.
“Ah, we cannot fish together, Nicol,” said the Laird haughtily. “We are rivals.”
Then all the jealousy in Nicol’s bosom was turned for a moment into fury.
“You—you! You old stiff-kneed curmudgeon! You a rival of a young fellow like me! Bah! Go home and go to bed!”
Fletcher was bold.