Waverley; Or, 'Tis Sixty Years Since

by Walter Scott

  CHAPTER XXI

  THE CHIEFTAIN'S SISTER

  The drawing-room of Flora Mac-Ivor was furnished in the plainest andmost simple manner; for at Glennaquoich every other sort of expenditurewas retrenched as much as possible, for the purpose of maintaining, inits full dignity, the hospitality of the Chieftain, and retaining andmultiplying the number of his dependants and adherents. But there was noappearance of this parsimony in the dress of the lady herself, whichwas in texture elegant, and even rich, and arranged in a manner whichpartook partly of the Parisian fashion, and partly of the more simpledress of the Highlands, blended together with great taste. Her hair wasnot disfigured by the art of the friseur, but fell in jetty ringletson her neck, confined only by a circlet, richly set with diamonds. Thispeculiarity she adopted in compliance with the Highland prejudices,which could not endure that a woman's head should be covered beforewedlock.

  Flora Mac-Ivor bore a most striking resemblance to her brother Fergus;so much so, that they might have played Viola and Sebastian with thesame exquisite effect produced by the appearance of Mrs. Henry Siddonsand her brother, Mr. William Murray, in these characters. They had, thesame antique and regular correctness of profile; the same dark eyes,eyelashes, and eyebrows; the same clearness of complexion, exceptingthat Fergus's was embrowned by exercise, and Flora's possessed theutmost feminine delicacy. But the haughty, and somewhat stern regularityof Fergus's features was beautifully softened in those of Flora. Theirvoices were also similar in tone, though differing in the key. That ofFergus, especially while issuing orders to his followers during theirmilitary exercise, reminded Edward of a favourite passage in thedescription of Emetrius:

  --whose voice was heard around, Loud as a trumpet with a silver sound.

  That of Flora, on the contrary, was soft and sweet,--'an excellent thingin woman;' yet, in urging any favourite topic, which she often pursuedwith natural eloquence, it possessed as well the tones which impress aweand conviction, as those of persuasive insinuation. The eager glance ofthe keen black eye, which in the Chieftain seemed impatient even of thematerial obstacles it encountered, had, in his sister, acquired a gentlepensiveness. His looks seemed to seek glory, power, all that could exalthim above others in the race of humanity; while those of his sister,as if she were already conscious of mental superiority, seemed to pity,rather than envy, those who were struggling for any further distinction.Her sentiments corresponded with the expression of her countenance.Early education had impressed upon her mind, as well as on that of theChieftain, the most devoted attachment to the exiled family of Stuart.She believed if the duty of her brother, of his clan, of every man inBritain, at whatever personal hazard, to contribute to that restorationwhich the partisans of the Chevalier de St. George had not ceasedto hope for. For this she was prepared to do all, to suffer all,to sacrifice all. But her loyalty, as it exceeded her brother's infanaticism, excelled it also in purity. Accustomed to petty intrigue,and necessarily involved in a thousand paltry and selfish discussions,ambitious also by nature, his political faith was tinctured, at least,if not tainted, by the views of interest and advancement so easilycombined with it; and at the moment he should unsheathe his claymore,it might be difficult to say whether it would be most with the view ofmaking James Stuart a king, or Fergus Mac-Ivor an earl. This, indeed,was a mixture of feeling which he did not avow even to himself, but itexisted, nevertheless, in a powerful degree.

  In Flora's bosom, on the contrary, the zeal of loyalty burnt pure andunmixed with any selfish feeling; she would have as soon made religionthe mask of ambitious and interested views, as have shrouded themunder the opinions which she had been taught to think patriotism. Suchinstances of devotion were not uncommon among the followers of theunhappy race of Stuart, of which many memorable proofs will recur to themind of most of my readers. But peculiar attention on the part of theChevalier de St. George and his princess to the parents of Fergus andhis sister, and to themselves when orphans, had riveted their faith.Fergus, upon the death of his parents, had been for some time a page ofhonour in the train of the Chevalier's lady, and, from his beautyand sprightly temper, was uniformly treated by her with the utmostdistinction. This was also extended to Flora, who was maintained forsome time at a convent of the first order, at the princess's expense,and removed from thence into her own family, where she spent nearly twoyears. Both brother and sister retained the deepest and most gratefulsense of her kindness.

  Having thus touched upon the leading principle of Flora's character, Imay dismiss the rest more slightly. She was highly accomplished, andhad acquired those elegant manners to be expected from one who, in earlyyouth, had been the companion of a princess; yet she had not learnedto substitute the gloss of politeness for the reality of feeling.When settled in the lonely regions of Glennaquoich, she found that herresources in French, English, and Italian literature, were likely tobe few and interrupted; and, in order to fill up the vacant time, shebestowed a part of it upon the music and poetical traditions of theHighlanders, and began really to feel the pleasure in the pursuit, whichher brother, whose perceptions of literary merit were more blunt, ratheraffected for the sake of popularity than actually experienced. Herresolution was strengthened in these researches by the extreme delightwhich her inquiries seemed to afford those to whom she resorted forinformation.

  Her love of her clan, an attachment which was almost hereditary inher bosom, was, like her loyalty, a more pure passion than that ofher brother. He was too thorough a politician, regarded his patriarchalinfluence too much as the means of accomplishing his own aggrandizement,that we should term him the model of a Highland Chieftain. Flora feltthe same anxiety for cherishing and extending their patriarchal sway,but it was with the generous desire of vindicating from poverty, or atleast from want and foreign oppression, those whom her brother was bybirth, according to the notions of the time and country, entitled togovern. The savings of her income, for she had a small pension from thePrincess Sobieski, were dedicated, not to add to the comforts of thepeasantry, for that was a word which they neither knew nor apparentlywished to know, but to relieve their absolute necessities, when insickness or extreme old age. At every other period, they rather toiledto procure something which they might share with the Chief as a proof oftheir attachment, than expected other assistance from him save what wasafforded by the rude hospitality of his castle, and the general divisionand subdivision of his estate among them. Flora was so much beloved bythem, that when Mac-Murrough composed a song in which he enumerated allthe principal beauties of the district, and intimated her superiorityby concluding; that 'the fairest apple hung on the highest bough,'he received, in donatives from the individuals of the clan, moreseed-barley than would have sowed his Highland Parnassus, the Bard'scroft as it was called, ten times over.

  From situation, as well as choice, Miss Mac-Ivor's society was extremelylimited. Her most intimate friend had been Rose Bradwardine, to whom shewas much attached; and when seen together, they would have affordedan artist two admirable subjects for the gay and the melancholy muse.Indeed Rose was so tenderly watched by her father, and her circleof wishes was so limited, that none arose but what he was willing togratify, and scarce any which did not come within the compass ofhis power. With Flora it was otherwise. While almost a girl, she hadundergone the most complete change of scene, from gaiety and splendourto absolute solitude and comparative poverty; and the ideas and wisheswhich she chiefly fostered, respected great national events, and changesnot to be brought round without both hazard and bloodshed, and thereforenot to be thought of with levity. Her manner, consequently, was grave,though she readily contributed her talents to the amusement of society,and stood very high in the opinion of the old Baron, who used to singalong with her such French duets of Lindor and Cloris, &c., as were infashion about the end of the reign of old Louis le Grand.

  It was generally believed, though no one durst have hinted it to theBaron of Bradwardine, that Flora's entreaties had no small share inallaying the wrath of Fergus upon occa
sion of their quarrel. She tookher brother on the assailable side, by dwelling first upon the Baron'sage, and then representing the injury which the cause might sustain, andthe damage which must arise to his own character in point of prudence,so necessary to a political agent, if he persisted in carrying it toextremity. Otherwise it is probable it would have terminated in a duel,both because the Baron had, on a former occasion, shed blood of theclan, though the matter had been timely accommodated, and on accountof his high reputation for address at his weapon, which Fergusalmost condescended to envy. For the same reason she had urged theirreconciliation, which the Chieftain the more readily agreed to, as itfavoured some ulterior projects of his own.

  To this young lady, now presiding at the female empire of the tea-table,Fergus introduced Captain Waverley, whom she received with the usualforms of politeness.