The fury of the British cavalry, at the shameful inactivity in
which they had been maintained, was unbounded; and their commander,
if he moved from his tent, was saluted with hisses and jeers by the
troopers. It was not for long, however; for as soon as the news was
known at home, he was ordered to return. On the afternoon of the
same day, an officer rode over to headquarters and asked for Major
Drummond.
"I am here, sir," he said courteously, "on behalf of Lord
Sackville. He will be leaving for England tomorrow, and I am the
bearer of a hostile message from him. I shall be obliged if you
will put me in communication with some officer who will act on your
behalf."
"Certainly," Fergus replied. "I was expecting such a message."
He had already heard of the order that Sackville had received; and
had requested Major Kurstad, a fellow aide-de-camp, to act for him
should he send him a hostile message. Going in he spoke to Kurstad,
who at once went out and introduced himself to the British officer.
"This is a painful business," the latter said, "and I can assure
you that I do not undertake it willingly. However, I overheard the
altercation between Lord Sackville and Major Drummond, and the same
night he asked me to act for him, when the time for it came. I
consented, and cannot draw back from the undertaking; but I need
hardly say that, after what happened at Minden, no English officer,
unless previously pledged, would have consented to act for him. I
suppose, sir, there is no use in asking whether the matter cannot
be arranged."
"Not in the slightest. Major Drummond told me that he had expressed
his willingness to meet the general, and he is certainly not one to
withdraw from his word. My friend chooses swords. In fact the use
of pistols, on such occasions, is quite unknown in the Continental
army."
"As Lord Sackville leaves tomorrow morning, we should be glad if
you would name an early hour."
"As early as you like. It is light at half-past four."
"Then shall we say five o'clock?"
"Certainly."
"And the place?"
"There is a small clump of trees on the heath, two miles west of
our camp."
"We will be there at that time, sir. Would you object to each side
being accompanied by a second friend? I ask it because, did
anything happen to my principal, I should certainly wish that
another witness was present at the duel."
"We have no objection," Major Kurstad said. "We shall also bring a
surgeon with us, and of course you can do the same, if you are
disposed."
The two officers saluted, and the major returned to Fergus.
"Do you mean to kill him?" he asked, after he had told him of the
arrangements that had been made.
"Certainly not. The man is an overbearing fool, and I merely wish
to give him a lesson. Personally, I should be glad if the whole of
the officers of the British force could be present, in order that
he might be as much humiliated as possible; but even if I hated the
man--and I have no shadow of feeling of that kind--I would not kill
him. He is going home to England to be tried by court martial, and
its sentence is likely to be a far heavier blow, to a bully of that
kind, than death would be. He has a taste of it already, for I hear
that he is hooted whenever he leaves his tent."
At the appointed time the two parties arrived, almost at the same
moment, at a spot arranged. Fergus was accompanied by Major Kurstad
and another officer of the duke's staff, and by the duke's own
surgeon. Formal salutations were exchanged between the seconds. The
duelling swords were examined, and found to be of the same length.
There was no difficulty in choosing the ground, as there was an
open space in the centre of the little wood, and the sun had not
risen high enough to overtop the trees. As, therefore, the glade
was in shade, there was no advantage, in point of light, to either
combatant.
Lord Sackville had the reputation of being a good fencer, but in
point of physique there was no comparison between the combatants.
Sackville was a tall and powerfully-built man, but dissipation and
good living had rendered his muscles flabby and sapped his
strength, although he was still in what should have been his prime.
Fergus, on the other hand, had not a superfluous ounce of flesh.
Constant exercise had hardened every muscle. He was a picture of
health and activity.
The general viewed him with an expression of vindictive animosity;
while his face, on the other hand, wore an expression of perfect
indifference. The uniform coats were removed, and the dropping of a
handkerchief gave the signal for them to commence.
Lord Sackville at once lunged furiously. The thrust was parried,
and the next moment his sword was sent flying through the air. His
second did not move to recover it.
"Why do you not bring it here?" Sackville exclaimed, in a tone of
the deepest passion.
"Because, my lord," his second said coldly, "as you have been
disarmed, the duel necessarily terminates; unless your antagonist
is willing that the sword shall be restored to you."
"I shall be obliged if you will give it him, Major Buck," Fergus
said quietly. "A little accident of this sort may occur
occasionally, even to a noted swordsman, when fighting with a boy."
The general was purple with passion, when he received the sword
from his second.
"Mind this time," he said between his teeth as, after a preliminary
feint or two, he again lunged.
Again the sword was wrenched from his hand, with a force that
elicited an exclamation of pain from him.
"Pray, give the general his sword again, Major Buck," Fergus said.
"You hold your rapier too tightly, General Sackville. You need a
little more freedom of play, and less impetuosity. I don't want to
hurt you seriously, but your blood is altogether too hot, and next
time I will bleed you on the sword arm."
Steadying himself with a great effort, Sackville played cautiously
for a time; but after parrying several of his thrusts, without the
slightest difficulty, Fergus ran him through the right arm, halfway
between the elbow and the shoulder, and the sword dropped from his
hand.
[Illustration: Lord Sackville stood without speaking, while
the surgeon bandaged up his arm]
Lord George Sackville had borne himself well in several duels, and
was accounted a gentleman, though arrogant and overbearing. He
stood without speaking, while the surgeon bandaged up his arm. Then
he said quietly:
"I ask your pardon, Major Drummond. This matter was altogether my
fault. I said that I would give you a lesson, and you have given me
one, which assuredly I shall never forget. I trust that you will
accept my apology for the words I uttered."
"Certainly, general, the more so that I own I gave provocation by
failing to salute you--my only excuse for which is that officers of
the highest rank, in Prussia, always return the salute of a junior
officer, of whatever rank; and that I did not reflect that you,
having many important matters in your mind, might have neglected to
return mine from pure absent mindedness, and not with any
intentional discourtesy. I can only say that I have not spoken of
this matter to any but my three friends here, and I am sure that
the matter will not be mentioned by them, when it is my earnest
request that it shall go no further."
The parties then mutually saluted, and rode off to their respective
camps. The story of the duel did not leak out from Fergus's
friends; but Sackville had openly spoken of the matter, the evening
before, to several officers; and had added to their disgust at his
conduct by declaring that he wished it had been the Duke of
Brunswick, instead of this upstart aide-de-camp of his, with whom
he had to reckon the next morning. He, on his part, exacted no
pledge from the officers who had accompanied him, but rode back to
camp without speaking a word, and an hour later left in a carriage
for Bremen.
The news of the encounter, then, circulated rapidly, and excited
intense amusement, and the most lively satisfaction, on the part of
the British officers.
On Sackville's arrival in England he was tried by court martial,
sentenced to be cashiered, and declared incapable of again serving
his majesty in any military capacity. This the king proclaimed
officially to be a sentence worse than death and, taking a pen, he
himself struck out his name from the list of privy councillors.
No satisfactory explanation has ever been given of Sackville's
conduct at Minden. Many say it is probable that he was disgusted
and sulky at having to rise so early, but this would hardly be a
sufficient explanation. The more probable conjecture is that, as he
was on notoriously bad terms with the duke, he was willing that the
latter should suffer a severe repulse at Minden, in the hope that
he would be deprived of his command, and he himself appointed
commander-in-chief of the allied army.
A few days after the battle, the exultation caused by the victory
at Minden was dashed by the news that a Prussian army, twenty-six
thousand strong, commanded by Wedel, had been beaten by the
Russians at Zuellichau; and ten days later by the still more
crushing news that Frederick himself, with fifty thousand men, had
been completely defeated by a Russian and Austrian army, ninety
thousand in number, at Kunersdorf, on the 11th of August.
At first the Prussians had beaten back the Russians with great
loss. The latter had rallied, and, joined by Loudon with the
Austrian divisions, had recovered the ground and beaten off the
Prussians with immense loss, the defeat being chiefly due to the
fact that the Prussian army had marched to the attack through woods
intersected with many streams; and that, instead of arriving on the
field of battle as a whole, they only came up at long intervals, so
that the first success could not be followed up, and the regiments
who made it were annihilated before help came.
The news came from Berlin. A letter had been received there from
the king, written on the night after the battle. He said that he
had but three thousand men collected round him, that the
circumstances were desperate, that he appointed his brother Prince
Henry general-in-chief, and that the army was to swear fidelity to
his nephew. The letter was understood to mean that Frederick
intended to put an end to his life. He knew that the enmity of his
foes was largely directed against him personally, and that far
easier terms might be obtained for the country were he out of the
way; and he was therefore determined not to survive irreparable
defeat. Indeed, he always carried a small tube of deadly poison on
his person.
Universal consternation was felt at the news. However, three days
later came the more cheering intelligence that twenty-three
thousand men had now gathered round him, and that he had again
taken the command. The loss in the battle, however, had been
terrible--six thousand had been killed, thirteen thousand wounded.
Two thousand of the latter, too seriously wounded to escape, were
made prisoners. The loss of the enemy had been little inferior, for
eighteen thousand Russians and Austrians were killed or wounded.
Another letter sent off by the king that night had disastrous
consequences, for he wrote to the governor of Dresden that, should
the Austrians attempt anything on the town beyond his means of
maintaining himself, he was to capitulate on the best terms he
could obtain.
Happily for Frederick, Soltikoff was as slow in his movements as
Daun, and for two months made no attempt to take advantage of the
victory of Kunersdorf, and thus afforded time to Frederick to
repair his misfortunes. But during the two months Dresden had been
lost. Its governor had received Frederick's letter, and was unaware
how things had mended after it was written, and that a force was
pressing forward to aid him against an Austrian besieging army.
Consequently, after little more than a nominal resistance, he
surrendered when, unknown to him, relief was close at hand.
The French being defeated, and in full flight for the Rhine, it
seemed to Fergus that it was his duty to return to the king; as
there was no probability whatever of any hard fighting on the
western frontier, while the position of affairs in the east was
most serious. He was still on the king's staff, and had but been
lent to the Duke of Brunswick. He laid the matter before the
latter, who at once agreed with him that he should rejoin the king.
"Frederick sorely needs active and intelligent officers, at
present," he said. "It is not by force that he can hope to prevent
the Russians and Austrians from marching to Berlin, but by
quickness and resource. His opponents are both slow and deliberate
in their movements, and the king's quickness puzzles and confuses
them. It is always difficult for two armies to act in perfect
concert, well-nigh impossible when they are of different
nationalities. Daun will wait for Soltikoff and Soltikoff for Daun.
The king will harass both of them. Daun has to keep one eye upon
his magazines in Bohemia, for Prince Henry in Silesia still
constantly menaces them, and not only the Austrian but the Russian
army is fed from Prague.
"Were it not that I am specially bound to defend Hanover from the
Confederate army, I would march with the greater portion of my
force to join the king; but my orders are imperative. 'Tis for
Hanover that George of England is fighting, and the British subsidy
and the British troops will be lost to the king, were Hanover to be
taken by the enemy. If Prince Henry could but join him, it would
bring his army again to a strength with which he could fight either
the Russians or Austrians; but their armies lie between Henry and
the king, and unless Daun makes some grievous mistake--and slow as
he is, Daun seldom makes a mistake--it seems well-nigh impossible
that the prince can get through.
"However, Major Drummond, you are likely to see little fighting
here; while with the king there will be incessant work for you.
Therefore, by all means go to him. He must have lost many of his
staff at Kunersdorf, and will, I doubt not, be glad to have you
with him."
The ride was a shorter one than it had been when going west, for
the king lay little more than fifty miles to the east of Berlin.
Although there was no absolute occasion for great speed, Fergus
rode fast; and on the tenth day after leaving Minden arrived at the
royal camp. The king was unaffectedly glad to see him.
"You have been more fortunate than I have," he said. "You have been
taking part in a victory, while I have been suffering a defeat. I
should like to have seen Minden. That charge of your countrymen was
superb. Nothing finer was ever done. Rash, perhaps; but it is by
rashness that victory is often won. Had it not been done, one would
have said that it was impossible for six battalions in line to hurl
back, again and again, the charges of ten thousand fine cavalry.
But the British division at Fontenoy showed us, not many years ago,
that the British infantry, now, are as good as they were under
Marlborough. I would give much if I had twenty thousand of them
here with my Prussians. It would be the saving of us.
"Did Ferdinand send you back, or did you ask to come?"
"I asked leave to come, sire. I thought that your staff must have
suffered heavily, and that I might be more useful here than with
the duke."
"Much more useful, major; and indeed, I am glad to have you with
me. You have youth and good spirits, and good spirits are very
scarce here. Have you heard the last news?"
"I have heard no news since I left Berlin, sire."
"Dresden is lost. Schmettau surrendered it, and that when relief
was but within ten miles of him. The place should have held out for
a month, at least. It is incredible. However, I will have it back
again before long and, at any rate, it is one place less to guard.
I should not have cared so much if the Austrians had taken it, but
that that wretched Confederate army, even though they had ten
Austrian battalions with them, should have snatched it from me, is
heart breaking. However, they have but the capital, and it will
take them some time before they can do more."
Fink, who had been sent off, with six or seven thousand men, to aid
Wunsch to relieve Dresden, on the day before the news of its fall
came, did much. He and his fellow commander failed in their first
object; but they were not idle, for they recaptured Leipzig and
other towns that the Confederate army had taken, and snatched all
Saxony, save Dresden, from its clutches.
Schmettau was relieved of his command, and never again employed. He
had certainly failed in firmness, but Frederick's own letter to
him, which had never been cancelled, afforded him the strongest
ground of believing that there was no chance of his being relieved.
His record up to this time had been excellent, and he was esteemed
as being one of Frederick's best generals. Frederick's harshness to
him was, at the time, considered to have been excessive. The king,
however, always expected from his generals as much as he himself
would have accomplished, in the same circumstances, and failure to
obtain success was always punished. After the dismissal of his
brother and heir from his command, the king was not likely to
forgive failure in others.
The time was a most anxious one for him. He had nothing to do but
to wait, and for once he was well content to do so; for every day
brought winter nearer, every week would render the victualling of
the hostile armies more difficult, and delay was therefore all in
his favour. Messenger after messenger was sent to Prince Henry,
urging him to make every possible effort to make his way through or
round the cordon of Austrian and Russian posts, eighty miles long
and fifty or sixty broad, that intervened between them.
In the evenings the king was accustomed to put aside resolutely his
military troubles, and passed his time chiefly in the society of
the British ambassador, Earl Marischal Keith, and the young
Scottish aide-de-camp, with occasionally one or two Prussian
officers. One evening, when Fergus had been sent with an order to a
portion of the force lying some miles away, Sir John Mitchell said
to the king:
"I have been talking with the Earl Marischal over young Drummond's
affairs, your majesty. As you know, his father's estates were
sequestrated after the battle of Culloden, where he himself fell. I
am writing a despatch to Pitt, saying that Drummond's son has been
serving under your majesty through the war, and has greatly
distinguished himself; and have asked him to annul the sequestration,
upon the ground that this young officer has done very valiant service
to your majesty, and so to the allied cause, giving a list of the
battles at which he has been present, and saying that the Duke of
Brunswick had, in his report of the battle of Minden to you, spoken
highly of the services he rendered him. If you would add a line in your
own hand, endorsing my request, it would greatly add to its weight."
"That I will readily do," the king said. "I will write a short
letter, which you can inclose in your own despatch."
And sitting down at once he wrote:
"The King of Prussia most warmly endorses the request of his
excellency, Sir John Mitchell. Not only has Major Fergus Drummond
shown exceptional bravery upon several occasions, which resulted in
his promotion to the rank of major with unprecedented rapidity, but
he saved the king's life at the battle of Zorndorf, meeting and
overthrowing three Russian cavalrymen who attacked him. It would,
therefore, give the king very great satisfaction if the English
minister would grant the request made on Major Drummond's behalf by
his excellency, the English ambassador."
"Thank you very much," the latter said, as he read the note
Frederick handed him. "I have no doubt that this will be effectual.
Culloden is now a thing of the past. There are many Scottish
regiments in the English king's service, and many acts of clemency
have, of late, been shown to those who took part in the rebellion,
and I cannot doubt that Pitt will at once act upon your request.
However, I shall say nothing to Drummond on the subject until I
hear that his father's estates have been restored to him."
As day after day passed, the king became more anxious as to the
position of Prince Henry. That energetic officer had indeed been
busy and, by threatening an attack upon Daun's magazines, had
compelled the Austrian commander to move to Bautzen for their
protection, and finally to make a decided effort to crush his
active and annoying foe. Gathering a great force in the
neighbourhood of Prince Henry's camp, he prepared to attack him on
the morning of September 22nd; but when morning came Prince Henry
had disappeared. At eight o'clock on the previous evening he had
marched twenty miles to Rothenburg.
The retreat was superbly conducted. It was necessary to move by
several roads, but the whole of the baggage, artillery, and troops
arrived punctually the next morning at Rothenburg, just at the hour
when Daun's army moved down to the attack of the camp where he had
been the evening before. Austrian scouting parties were sent out in
all directions, but no certain news could be obtained as to the
direction of the Prussian march. The baggage waggons had been seen,
moving here and there, but it was four days before Daun was able to
learn for certain what had become of him, having until then
believed that he must have made for Glogau, to join Frederick.
Henry had, however, gone in an entirely different direction. After
ordering three hours' rest at Rothenburg he marched west, and
arrived at early morning at Klitten, eighteen miles from his last
halting place. Starting again after another three hours' halt he
marched twenty miles farther, still straight to the west, and fell
upon General Weyler who, with thirty-three thousand men, occupied
the last Austrian position to be passed.
That officer had not the slightest idea of any possibility of
attack from the east. The whole Austrian army stood between him and
Frederick on the northeast, and Prince Henry on the southeast. He
was therefore taken altogether by surprise. Six hundred of his men
were killed; and he himself, with twenty-eight field officers and
seventeen hundred and eighty-five other officers and men, taken
prisoners.
This march of fifty hours, in which an army with the whole of its
baggage traversed fifty-eight miles, through a country occupied by
enemies, is one of the most remarkable on record, and completely
changed the whole situation of the campaign. There was nothing for
Daun to do, if he would not lose Dresden and the whole of Saxony
again, but to follow Prince Henry. This movement completed the
dissatisfaction of his Russian ally, Soltikoff, who had been
already sorely worried and harassed by Frederick, ever since Daun
had moved away to defend his magazines and crush Prince Henry; and
now, seeing that his own food supply was likely to fail him, he
marched away with his army into Poland.
The king was at this time, to his disgust and indignation, laid up
for six weeks with the gout; but as soon as he was better, he set
off to join Prince Henry. Daun was slowly falling back and, had he
been let alone, Dresden might have been recaptured and the campaign
come to a triumphant ending.
Unfortunately Frederick was not content to leave well alone, and
sent Fink with seventeen thousand men to Maxim, to cut off Daun's
retreat into Bohemia; intending himself to attack him in front.
Daun for once acted with decision, attacked Fink with twenty-seven
thousand men and, although the Prussians fought with most obstinate
bravery, they were surrounded; battered by the Austrian artillery;
while they themselves, having no guns with which to make reply,
were forced to surrender. Some had already made their way off, but
in killed, wounded, and prisoners, the loss was fully twelve
thousand men.
Frederick threw the blame upon Fink, but most unjustly. That
officer had followed out the orders given him, and had done all
that man could do to hold the position that he was commanded to
take up, and the disaster was wholly due to Frederick's own
rashness in placing so small a force, and that without artillery,
where they could be attacked by the whole Austrian army. Fink,
after his release at the conclusion of the peace three years later,
was tried by court martial and sentenced to a year's imprisonment.
This disaster entirely altered the situation. Daun, instead of
continuing his retreat to Bavaria, advanced to occupy Saxony; and
drove General Dierocke across the Elbe, taking fifteen hundred of
his men prisoners. Frederick, however, barred the way farther, and
six weeks later both armies went into winter quarters; Daun still
holding Dresden and the strip of country between it and Bohemia,
but the rest of Saxony being as far out of his reach as ever.
The last six weeks of the campaign was a terrible time for all.
Frederick himself had lived in a little cottage in the small town
of Freyburg, and even after the armies had settled down in their
cheerless quarters, he still made several attempts to drive the
Austrians out, having received a reinforcement of ten thousand men
from Duke Ferdinand. These efforts were in vain.
The ten thousand, however, on their way to join the king, had
struck a heavy blow at one of his bitterest enemies, the Duke of
Wuertemberg, who had twelve thousand of his own men, with one
thousand cavalry, at Fulda. The duke had ordered a grand ball to be
held, and great celebrations of joy at the news of the Austrian
victory at Maxim; but on the very day on which these things were to
take place, Ferdinand's men fell upon him suddenly, scattered his
army in all directions, took twelve hundred prisoners, and sent the
duke with such of his troops as had escaped back to Wuertemberg
again; his subjects, who were largely Protestants, rejoicing hugely
over his discomfiture.
On the day on which Maxim was fought Admiral Hawke, with a small
squadron, utterly defeated the French fleet that was to convey an
invading army to England. France herself was getting as short of
cash as Prussia, and in November it became necessary to declare a
temporary bankruptcy and, the king setting the example, all nobles
and others possessing silver plate sent them to the mint to be
coined into money.
So eager was the king to take advantage of any openings the
Austrians might give for attack that, although so near Dresden,
Fergus was unable to carry out his promise to the Count Eulenfurst
to pay him a visit; for he was kept constantly employed, and could
not ask for leave. Early in April the king sent for him. The
English ambassador was present, but Earl Marischal Keith had gone
away on a mission.
"I have two pieces of news for you, major," the king said
pleasantly. "In the first place, it is now getting on for two years
since you did me that little service at Zorndorf, and since then
you have ever been zealously at work. Others have gone up in rank,
and it is time that you had another step. Therefore, from today you
are colonel. No man in the army has better deserved promotion, and
indeed you ought to have had it after you returned from Brunswick's
army where, as the duke's despatches told me, you had rendered
excellent service. So many officers of rank have fallen since then
that promotion has been rapid, and it is high time that you
obtained the step that you so well deserve.
"The other piece of news is for Sir John Mitchell to tell you, for
it is to his good offices that it is due."
"Very partially so, your majesty," said the ambassador. "It is like
enough that Pitt would not have troubled to take action on my
recommendation only, had it not been that you so strongly backed my
request that, in fact, it became one from yourself. Therefore it is
for you to give him the news."
"As you please," the king said.
"Well then, Drummond, his excellency and your cousin the Marischal
put their heads together, and his excellency sent a warm letter to
the English minister, saying that you had rendered such services to
his sovereign's ally that he prayed that the sequestration of your
father's estates should be annulled. I myself added a memorandum
saying that, as you had saved my life at Zorndorf, and rendered me
other valuable services, I should view it as a personal favour if
his request was granted. The thing would have been managed in a
couple of days, in this country; but in England it seems that
matters move more slowly, and his excellency has only today
received an official intimation that the affair has been completed,
and that your father's estates have been restored to you."
Fergus was, for the moment, completely overwhelmed. He had never
thought for a moment that the estate would ever be restored, and
the sudden news, following that of his promotion, completely
overwhelmed him.
It was of his mother rather than of himself that he thought. He
himself had been too young to feel keenly the change in their life
that followed Culloden; but although his mother had borne her
reverses bravely, and he had never heard a complaint or even a
regret cross her lips, he knew that the thought that he would never
be chief of their brave clansmen, and that these had no longer a
natural leader and protector, was very bitter to her.
"Your majesty is too good.
"Your excellency--" and he stopped.
"I know what you would say," the king said kindly, "and there is no
occasion to say it. I have only paid some of the debt I owe you,
and his excellency's thought gave me well-nigh as much pleasure as
it does you. Now, be off to your camp.
"You see, Sir John, between us we have done what the Austrians and
Russians have never managed between them--I mean, we have shaken
Colonel Drummond's presence of mind.
"There, go along with you, we have matters to talk over together."
Fergus saluted almost mechanically, bowed gratefully to Mitchell,
and then left the room in a whirl of emotion. To be the head of his
clan again was, to him, a vastly greater matter than to be a
colonel in even the most renowned and valiant army in Europe. Of
the estates he thought for the moment but little, except that his
mother would now be able to give up her petty economies and her
straitened life, and to take up the station that had been hers
until his father's death.
There was another thought, too--that of Countess Thirza Eulenfurst.
Hitherto he had resolutely put that from him. It was not for him, a
soldier of fortune, without a penny beyond his pay, to aspire to
the hand of a rich heiress. It was true that many Scottish
adventurers in foreign services had so married, but this had seemed
a thing altogether beyond him. He had rendered a service to her
father, and they had, in consequence, been most kind to him; but he
had thought that it would be only a poor return for their kindness
for him to aspire to their daughter's hand.
He had put the matter even more resolutely aside because, once or
twice, the count had said things that might be construed as hints
that he should not regard such an act as presumptuous. He had
spoken not unapprovingly of the marriages of ladies of high rank to
men who had rendered great services to the countries for which they
had fought, and said that, with such ample means as Thirza would
possess, there would be no need for him to seek for a wealthy match
for her. Thirza herself had evinced lively pleasure, whenever he
went to see them, and deep regret when he left them; while her
colour rose, sometimes, when he came upon her suddenly. But these
indications that he was not altogether indifferent to her had but
determined him, more resolutely, to abstain from taking advantage
of the gratitude she felt for the service he had rendered.
Now, it seemed to him that the news he had heard had somewhat
changed the position. He was no longer a penniless soldier. It was
true that the Drummond estates were as nothing by the side of the
broad lands owned by her father; but at least, now, he was in the
position of a Scottish gentleman of fair means and good standing,
who could dispense with wealth on the part of a bride, and had a
fair home and every comfort to offer to one in his native land.
That he had, too, obtained the rank of colonel in the Prussian
army, by service in many a desperate battle, distinctly added to
his position. Thus, in every respect, the news that he had received
was in the highest degree gratifying to him.