第28章

1。SLIP3。DaviewouldbeATTRACTEDintoasimilardialect，asheislater-e。g。，withDoig，chapterXIX。ThisistrulyScottish。

4，TOLIGHTLY；correct；’tolightly’isagoodregularScotsverb。

15。SeeAllanRamsay’sworks。

15，16。Ay，andthatisoneofthepigmentswithwhichIamtryingtodrawthecharacterofPrestongrange。’Tisamostcuriousthingtorenderthatkind，insignificantmask。Tomakeanythingpreciseistoriskmyeffect。Andtillthedayhedied，DAVIEwasneversureofwhatP。wasafter。Notonlyso；veryoftenP。didn’tknowhimself。TherewasanelementofmerelikingforDavie；therewasanelementofbeingdetermined，incaseofaccidents，tokeepwellwithhim。HehopedhisBarbarawouldbringhimtoherfeet，besides，andmakehimmanageable。ThatwaswhyhesenthimtoHopeParkwiththem。ButDaviecannotKNOW；IgiveyoutheinsideofDavie，andmymethodcondemnsmetogiveonlytheoutsidebothofPrestongrangeandhispolicy-

I’llgivemymindtothetechnicalities。Yettometheyseemapartofthestory，whichishistorical，afterall-

IthinktheywantedAlantoescape。Butwhenorwheretosayso？Iwilltry-

20，DEAN。I’lltryandmakethatplainer。

CHAP……，Ifearithastogowithoutblows。IfIcouldgetthepair-No，can’tbe。

Allright，willabridge。

I’dhavetoputanotetoeveryword；andhewhocan’treadScotscanNEVERenjoyTodLapraik。

Quiteright。ICANmakethisplainer，andwill。

Iknow，butIhavetohurryhere；thisisthebrokenbackofmystory；somebusinessbrieflytransacted，I

amleapingforBarbara’sapron-strings。

SLIP57。Quiterightagain；Ishallmakeitplain。

CHAP。XX。Ishallmakeallthesepointsclear。AboutLadyPrestongrange(notLADYGrant，onlyMISSGrant，mydear，thoughLADYPrestongrange，quoththedominie)Iamtakenwithyourideaofherdeath，andhaveagoodmindtosubstituteafeaturelessaunt。

SLIP78。Idon’tseehowtolessenthiseffect。Thereisreallynotmuchsaidofit；andIknowCatrionadidit。ButI’lltry-

89。Iknow。Thisisanoldpuzzleofmine。YouseeC。’sdialectisnotwhollyabedofroses。IfonlyIknewtheGaelic。Well，I’lltryforanotherexpression。

THEEND。Ishalltrytoworkitover。JameswasatDunkirkorderingpost-horsesforhisownretreat。Catrionadidhavehersuspicionsarousedbytheletter，and，carelessgentleman，Itoldyouso-orshedidatleast-Yes，thebloodmoney，Iambotheredabouttheportmanteau；itisthepresenceofCatrionathatbothersme；therapeofthepockmantieishistoric……

Tome，Iown，itseemsintheproofaveryprettypieceofworkmanship。DavidhimselfIrefusetodiscuss；heIS。TheLordAdvocateIthinkastrongsketchofaverydifficultcharacter，JamesMore，sufficient；andthetwogirlsverypleasingcreatures。ButOdearme，IcamenearlosingmyhearttoBarbara！IamnotquitesoconstantasDavid，andevenhe-well，hedidn’tknowit，anyway！TODLAPRAIKisapieceoflivingScots:ifIhadneverwritanythingbutthatandTHRAWNJANET，stillI’dhavebeenawriter。ThedefectsofD。B。areinherent，Ifear。Butonthewhole，Iamfarindeedfrombeingdispleasedwiththetailie。TheywantmoreAlan？Well，theycan’tgetit。

Ifoundmyfamemuchgrownonthisreturntocivilisation。

DIGITOMONSTRARIisanewexperience；peoplealllookedatmeinthestreetsinSydney；anditwasveryqueer。Here，ofcourse，IamonlythewhitechiefintheGreatHousetothenatives；andtothewhites，eitheranallyorafoe。Itisamuchhealthierstateofmatters。IfIlivedinanatmosphereofadulation，Ishouldendbykickingagainstthepricks。O

mybeautifulforest，Omybeautifulshining，windyhouse，whatajoyitwastobeholdthemagain！Nochancetotakemyselftooseriouslyhere。

Thedifficultyoftheendisthemassofmattertobeattendedto，andthesmalltimelefttotransactitin。I

meanfromAlan’sdangerofarrest。ButIhavejustseenmywayout，Idobelieve。

EASTERSUNDAY。

Ihavenowgotasfarasslip28，andfinishedthechapterofthelawtechnicalities。Well，theseseemedtomealwaysoftheessenceofthestory，whichisthestoryofaCAUSE

CELEBRE；moreover，theyarethejustificationofmyinventions；ifthesemenwe