Page:The Cottagers of Glenburnie - Hamilton (1808).djvu/417

 was laid out on finery, it only added to their vanity and pride. Meg was, in her 17th year, detected in an intrigue with one of the workmen; and as her seducer refused to marry her, she was exposed to disgrace. Leaving to her mother the care of her infant, she went to Edinburgh to look for service, and was never heard of more. Jean's conduct was in some respects less culpable; but her notions of duty were not such as to afford much comfort to her mother's heart.

At Gowan-brae all went on prosperously. Mr Stewart had the happiness of seeing his daughter, Mary, united to an excellent young man, who had a handsome property in his immediate neighbourhood, and farmed his own estate. His sons turned out as well as he could possibly have expected. And Mr and Mrs Mollins, though not all he could have wished, were more reasonable and happy than he had at one time any grounds to expect they would ever be.