Macleod of Dare, page 259 by William Black
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u Keith," she said, laughing, when the girl had gone. "Well, you will leave the whole thing in my hands, and I will do what I can. And be patient and reasonable, Keith, even if your mother won't hear of it for a day or two. We women are very prejudiced against each other, you know; and we have quick tempers, and we want a little coaxing and persuasion--that is all."
"You have always been a good friend to me, Janet," he said.
"And I hope it will all turn out for your happiness, Keith," she said, gently, as she left.
But as for Lady Macleod, when Janet reached her room, the haughty old dame was "neither to hold nor to bind." There was nothing she would not have done for this favorite son of hers but this one thing. Give her consent to such a marriage? The ghosts of all the Macleods of Dare would call shame on her!
"Oh, auntie," said the patient Janet, "he has been a good son to you; and you must have known he would marry some day."
"Marry?" said the old lady, and she turned a quick eye on Janet herself. "I was anxious to see him married; and when he was choosing a wife I think he might have looked nearer home, Janet."
"What a wild night it is!" said Janet Macleod quickly, and she went for a moment to the window. "The Dunara will be coming round the Mull of Cantire just about now. And where is the present, auntie, that the young lady sent you? You must write and thank her for that, at all events; and shall I write the letter for you in the morning?"
CHAPTER XXIX.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS.
Lady Macleod remained obdurate; Janet went about the house with a sad look on her face; and Macleod, tired of the formal courtesy that governed the relations between his mother and himself, spent most of his time in snipe and duck shooting about the islands--braving the wild winds and wilder seas in a great, open lugsailed boat, the Umpire having long been sent to her winter-quarters. But the