But the
little lass had sense and shrewdness enough to keep her failings out
of sight of her godfather, to whom she was sincerely attached; and so
high she stood in his favour, that, at his recommendation, she
obtained permission to visit the recluse Lady Hermione.
The singular mode of life which that lady observed; her great beauty,
rendered even more interesting by her extreme paleness; the conscious
pride of being admitted farther than the rest of the world into the
society of a person who was wrapped in so much mystery, made a deep
impression on the mind of Margaret Ramsay; and though their
conversations were at no time either long or confidential, yet, proud
of the trust reposed in her, Margaret was as secret respecting their
tenor as if every word repeated had been to cost her life. No inquiry,
however artfully backed by flattery and insinuation, whether on the
part of Dame Ursula, or any other person equally inquisitive, could
wring from the little maiden one word of what she heard or saw, after
she entered these mysterious and secluded apartments. The slightest
question concerning Master Heriot's ghost, was sufficient, at her
gayest moment, to check the current of her communicative prattle, and
render her silent.
We mention this, chiefly to illustrate the early strength of
Margaret's character--a strength concealed under a hundred freakish
whims and humours, as an ancient and massive buttress is disguised by
its fantastic covering of ivy and wildflowers.
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