Page:Scott - Tales of my Landlord - 3rd series, vol. 2 - 1819.djvu/332

322 conveyance, the Master received the following lines:—"I received your's, but it was at the utmost risk; do not attempt to write again till better times. I am sore beset, but I will be true to my word, while the exercise of my reason is vouchsafed to me. That you are happy and prosperous is some consolation, and my situation requires it all." The note was signed L. A.

This letter filled Ravenswood with the most lively alarm. He made many attempts, notwithstanding her prohibition, to convey letters to Miss Ashton, and even to obtain an interview; but his attempts were frustrated, and he had only the mortification to learn that anxious and effectual precautions had been taken to prevent the possibility of their correspondence. The Master was more distressed by these circumstances, as it became impossible to delay his departure from Scotland, upon the important mission which bad been confided to him. Before his departure, he put Sir William Ashton's letter into the hands