whom she meant having come, Mary answered, "Oh! the Prince! I mean Mr. Charlie, to be sure!"
Bella blushed unconsciously, and wished to know what proof she had of such a fact, when Mary a little embarrassedly narrated the plan Donald and herself had invented in order to communicate the agreeable intelligence.
Her young mistress coloured more deeply on hearing her own name coupled with Charlie's in the air, and on learning that both of them were the subject of Donald and Mary's gossip (by the maid's own confession) she was therefore resolved for the future to be more reserved in Charlie's company, and never again to manifest the same joy and happiness on meeting him before Mary or Donald. Vain reasoning. Little did she know how her very looks and pretended indifference betrayed more fully the state of her mind to the more practised eye of her maid; and this evening, in listening to the music, that she more than formerly extolled the beautiful pibroch, and Donald's excellence in giving it more justice than any other piper; but above all, the bright hue of her cheeks, and the brilliant light of her eyes, when noticing some object opposite in Charlie's room, with something like a spyglass levelled at her.
Mary was indeed correct in her conjectures, for Charlie paid his visit to Mr. McKay that evening as usual on his arrival from the University.
What conversation had taken place between himself and Bella on that occasion we know not; however, this much came to our knowledge, that when Charlie had taken his leave of Mr. McKay, Bella met him (I suppose accidentally) in the lobby, and that the young student promised to shoot a brace of ptarimgan in Ben Mòr next morning, provided the young lady met him at the bridge of Linn to receive the same. Hence the unfortunate recountre, detailed in the first chapter, which was mainly attributable to Mary Grant's prying black eyes, and prevented her modest young mistress trusting her, as usual, in her company, particularly as she expected to meet a certain young gentleman with game. We also suspect that the same reasons sent Donald Munro to the post-office on that morning instead of accompanying his young master as formerly to Ben Mòr.
