Mr. Sutherland

“ Would it were only that! That were no dishonour, at least. Oh, no! It is as much worse as it could possibly be!”
“I cannot believe that Mr. Sutherland would do aught unworthy of a man and a gentleman.”
“Woe to my lips that they should utter the charge. But read his letter, Valeria, and advise me, for I am deeply distressed,” said Miss Sutherland; and she threw herself back into a cushioned chair, and bowed her face upon her hands, until all the amber ringlets drooped and veiled them.
Valeria ran her eyes quickly over the letter, and then she threw herself into a chair—but it was to laugh. ”

“ Sutherland rose from the easy-chair in which he had been seated, and, putting out the lamp widow Jones had insisted on lighting, passed directly to the window, through which he began to peer with looks of the deepest anxiety.
A man was coming up the road, a young man, Frederick. As Mr. Sutherland recognised him he leaned forward with increased anxiety, till at the appearance of his son in front his scrutiny grew so strained and penetrating that it seemed to exercise a magnetic influence upon Frederick, causing him to look up. ”

“ Examine him closely, Mr. Sutherland; he won't notice it."
"But what ails him? Why does he sit crouched against the table? Is he hurt too?"
"No; look at his eyes."
Mr. Sutherland stooped and pushed aside the long grey locks that half concealed the countenance of his aged friend.
"Why," he cried, startled, "they are closed! He isn't dead?"
"No, he is asleep."
"Asleep?"
"Yes. He was asleep when we came in and he is asleep yet. Some of the neighbours wanted to wake him, but I would not let them. His wits are not strong enough to bear a sudden shock."
"No, no, poor Philemon! ”

“ Sutherland aside and said:
"What did the old man mean by saying she might have worn silk? Are they better off than they seem?" Mr. Sutherland closed the door before replying.
"They are rich," he declared, to the utter amazement of the other. "That is, they were; but they may have been robbed; if so, Philemon was not the wretch who killed her. I have been told that she kept her money in an old-fashioned cupboard. ”

“ Mr. Sutherland went out, and enquired for his mother, and was told that the lady desired to be excused from receiving an official, that had come to make her homeless. Mark stifled a sigh; he ordered refreshments for his guest, and soon after showed him to his sleeping chamber.
The next day was a very busy, yet a very trying one. On coming down into the breakfast-room, Mark Sutherland heard with poignant sorrow that his mother had departed from the house, carrying with her many of her personal effects, as if for a long or permanent absence, and had gone to take up her abode in Cashmere. ”

“ XXV IN EXTREMITY Sweetwater's one thought as he sank was, "Now Mr. Sutherland need fear me no longer."
But the instinct of life is strong in every heart, and when he found himself breathing the air again he threw out his arms wildly and grasped a spar. ”

“ There was a silence; no one ventured a dissent, no one so much as made a gesture of disapproval. Then Mr. Sutherland struggled to his feet, cast one last look around him, and disappeared through a door which had opened like magic before him. Then and not till then did Frederick move forward. ”

“ The men at work were unskilled in their task, and had caused Mr. Sutherland much anxiety by the clumsy way in which they were rearing the building. Just as he came opposite them this afternoon, they were raising a heavy beam by means of ropes and pulleys, with a great deal of noise and very little work. Mr. Sutherland, with an exclamation of impatience, stopped his words and [136] his walk, and came up to where they were at work—the two, Tom and Lillie, following. ”

“ Sutherland had consented, with feelings partly of amusement and partly of annoyance, to sit for his portrait, to adorn some lyceum or lecture room. And the painting had been finished and hung up, and had attracted crowds of his friends and admirers—for a few days—and then had been left “alone in its glory.”
One morning, at an hour so early that it was highly improbable he should find any other visitors there, Mr. Sutherland went to the lyceum to procure a rare volume on jurisprudence. The librarian was in his stall, but otherwise the room seemed deserted. ”

“ Sutherland, land-surveyor, a gentleman of whom I know nothing, save that he is the author of some other popular songs."—We cannot say what reliance is to be placed on this statement of the Shepherd's. But knowing his unfortunate disposition to cajollery in matters literary, we are quite prepared to believe, on very slender proof, that the Mr. Sutherland, the land-surveyor, the gentleman of whom he "knows nothing save that he is the author of some other popular songs," is a phantom of his own creating ”

“ She turned deadly pale, but without an instant’s hesitation arose to her feet, placed the letter in her bosom, and stood fronting him.
Seeing that the matter was about to take a very serious turn, Mrs. Vivian playfully interfered, by nestling her soft little hand into the great bony one of the planter, and saying, with her bewitching smile, “Ah, then, Mr. Sutherland, let young people alone. Do not rifle a young girl’s little mysteries. ”

“ Attridge called in her carryall to offer the young couple the two vacant seats to church; a favour which, after some little hesitation and reflection, they frankly and gratefully accepted. And, afterwards, Mark Sutherland was much pleased when it fell in the way of his profession to do Mr. Attridge a gratuitous service—a favour which it was rather difficult to make honest Paul Attridge accept, who answered to all Mr. Sutherland’s grateful acknowledgments and expostulations,
“That neighbours should be neighbours, but that professional men should be paid for their services.” ”

“ But, alas! all tides have their ebb as well as flow, and before Mr. Sutherland and Frederick were well out of the main street the latter became aware that notwithstanding the respect with which his explanations had been received by the jury, there were many of his fellow-townsmen who were ready to show dissatisfaction at his being allowed to return in freedom to that home where he had still every prospect of being called the young master. ”

“ The man withdrew with a bow, and the housekeeper entered, and awaited the commands of the lady.
Slowly and smilingly folding up the letter, she said, “Mr. Sutherland is coming home this evening. He brings a friend, a young gentleman, with him. I wish you to have their chambers prepared; and do remember to close the wire-gauze blinds, and burn catalpa leaves in the rooms, to destroy any mosquitoes that may remain.”
“And at what time shall I order supper, madam?” ”

“ Without any weary fluctuation from [Pg 397] well to ill, and ill to well—which sickens the heart with a deferred hope—all my old-time strength came back with the glow of that year's June sun.
"There's nae accountin' for some wilful folk, lad," was Mr. Sutherland's remark, one evening after I was able to leave my room. "Ye hae risen frae y'r bed like the crocus frae snaw. An' Frances were hangin' aboot y'r pillow, lad, I'm nae sure y'd be up sae dapper and smart." ”

“ So I took the cheque, on the condition that I should not disturb the public in its happy confidence in the moral perversity of the donor.’
Sister Ursula joined heartily in Sutherland’s laughter.
‘Well,’ she said, ‘you have certainly discovered a phenomenon. Most men, even some good men, like to have their charities written large for the world to read; whereas Mr. Lagardère is actually ashamed of a good action.’
‘After all,’ answered Sutherland, as they shook hands, ‘he is what the world has made him. ”

“ Ugh! It’s the niggers toting that animal up to bed! He, who seven years ago was called the brightest rising star on the political horizon! Now look at him! That 328is India’s fault! What tremendous power women have for evil!”
“And for good!” said Mark Sutherland, as his thoughts flew to his guardian angel, Rosalie.
Wearied with his journey, and longing for the solitude that would leave him free to reflect upon all that he had just heard, Mark Sutherland expressed a wish to retire. Mr. Bolling rang for the night lamps, and they parted for the night. ”

“ The principles advanced by him had taken such root in the minds of many that it seemed impossible for them to lay the doctrine aside. Among this class were the Marshalls, who, by the way, had increased their family by the addition of a son-in-law, their daughter Claire having, as was anticipated, changed her name from Marshall to Sutherland.
Herbert Sutherland was a rising young man of Westminster, well and favorably known to most of the people. ”

“ Only give yourself to Mark Sutherland, and coax him away to “parts unknown,” to that “borne whence no traveller returneth,” if possible, and your uncle will smooth your path—he will try to persuade Clement Sutherland to forego his wrath and hate, and yield you up your own fortune—he will give you his blessing, and as much assistance of every kind as your independent spirit will permit you to accept.
Colonel Ashley, in fact, gave his full consent and approbation to the engagement of Mark Sutherland and Rosalie Vivian. He even joined Mr. ”

“ Gerald Ashley, and Mr. Bolling. Oriole served tea and coffee from a side-table. Clement Sutherland had not come home. Mr. Ashley’s face was bloated, and his eyes blood-shot—the effects of the preceding evening’s excess were but too plain. He sat silent and morose, and ate but little. India maintained a cold, severe aspect, never speaking to or looking at him. Mark Sutherland felt himself de trop and uncomfortable, but for Uncle Billy, who kept up an incessant monologue, asking a score of questions about the 333north-west, and volunteering many comments. Mr. ”

“ The Educational Institute of Scotland, like the Trade Unions, is very humble in its demands. Why, in the name of heaven, ask for larger areas? Mr. Tennant rightly replied that it was news to him that the County Council is a more progressive body than the small School Board. Introduce larger areas and your village pig-dealer and shoemaker give place to your county colonel and manufacturer ... the men who are interested in the maintenance of discipline and of wage-slavery. What the Institute should really do is to give up thinking and talking of education for this generation. ”

“ Coventry?" asked Wolodia.
"We'll send you to Coventry too," said Diana, and the meeting murmured agreement.
No one was ever sent to Coventry, but I had no further complaints against the class. One interesting feature in the affair was this: Violet, a lively girl full of fun, one day got up and, as a joke, proposed that Mr. Neill be sent to Coventry. The others, usually willing to laugh with Violet, protested.
"That's just silly, Violet," they said. "If you propose silly things like that we'll send you to Coventry." ”

“ He would have purchased an inner conviction of his innocence almost at the price of his own life, not because of any latent interest in the young man himself, but because he was Charles Sutherland's son, and the dear, if unworthy, centre of all that noble man's hopes, aims, and happiness. ”

“ Mark Sutherland’s plans the only condition upon which their marriage should proceed. And so the interview between father and daughter had closed; and Miss Sutherland had returned to her room with little disposition to be amused by the variety and splendour of her newly-arrived trousseau. And, by seeming lassitude and nonchalance, she had drawn upon herself the unjust censure of Mrs. Vivian, and the wondering compassion of the more sympathetic Rosalie.
India never for an instant doubted her power over Mark Sutherland; nay, she never mentally even limited the extent of that power. ”

“ Sutherland, despite his scanty nether costume, appears to be in excellent health and spirits. He has thriven so well in the world that, in accordance with a tolerably correct estimate of the Caledonian national character, his relations at home begin to pay court to him, and to send him presents. One indulges him with the hero of the piece: the small, ugly, irate, snuffy quadruped before mentioned. The banker takes it with a good-humored "Pish!" little dreaming of the important part the little wretch is destined to play. ”

“ Mackay says of Sutherland: 'He is a very honest man, a great asserter of the liberties of the people; hath a good rough sense, is open and free, a great lover of his bottle and of his friend; brave in his person, which he hath shown in several duels; too familiar for his quality, and often keeps company below it; is a fat, fair-complexioned man, forty-five years old' (Memoirs, p. 201) . He died in London on 27 June 1733.
Sutherland was thrice married: First, to Helen, second daughter of William, lord Cochrane, son of William, first earl of Dundonald. ”

“ She admired and honoured Mark Sutherland above all men—nay, there were times when she feared him above all things. And she loved him as those of her clime only love. And with all her faults, this spoiled child of fortune was too true a woman to wish to take 120the position and tone of a dictator to the man she so loved. Nay, she felt indignant with all concerned in thrusting upon her such inevitable, yet such repulsive, “greatness.” And now she sat trying to compose her nerves and collect her thoughts for the unavoidable interview to which she momentarily expected to be summoned. ”