For the Captain held himself in high esteem; not simply for
his breeding, which was of the Camerons of Erracht; nor for his manners,
which were of the most courtly, if occasionally marred by fretfulness;
nor for his dress, which was that of a Highland gentleman, perfect in
detail and immaculate, but for his many and public services rendered to
the people, the county, and the nation. Indeed his mere membership dues
to the various associations, societies and committees with which he
was connected, and his dining expenses contingent upon their annual
meetings, together with the amounts expended upon the equipment and
adornment of his person proper to such festive occasions, cut so deep
into the slender resources of the family as to give his prudent daughter
some considerable concern; though it is safe to say that such concern
her father would have regarded not only as unnecessary but almost as
impertinent.
The Captain's correspondence, however extensive, was on the whole
regarded by his daughter as a good rather than an evil, in that it
secured her domestic and farm activities from disturbing incursions.
This spring morning Moira's apprehensions awakened by an extremely light
mail, were realized, as she beheld her father bearing down upon her
with an open letter in his hand.
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