"What think you of this epistle, Bucklaw? said the Master, when his companion had hammered out all the sense, and almost all the words of which it consisted.
"Truly that the Marquis's meaning is as great a riddle as his manuscript. He is really in much need of Wit's Interpreter, or the Complete Letter-Writer, and were I you I would send him a copy by the bearer. He writes you very kindly to remain wasting your time and your money in this vile, stupid, oppressed country, without so much as offering you the countenance and shelter of his house. In my opinion, he has some scheme in view in which he supposes you can be useful, and he wishes to keep you at hand, to make use of you when it ripens, reserving the power of turning you adrift, should his plot fail in the concoction."
"His plot?—then you suppose it is a treasonable business," answered Ravenswood.
"What else can it be?" replied Bucklaw;
