Have you,
since leaving the regiment, held any correspondence, direct or indirect,
with this Sergeant Houghton?'
'I!--I hold correspondence with a man of his rank and situation!--How,
or for what purpose?'
'That you are to explain;--but did you not, for example, send to him for
some books?'
'You remind me of a trifling commission,' said Waverley, 'which I gave
Sergeant Houghton, because my servant could not read. I do recollect I
bade him, by letter, select some books, of which I sent him a list, and
send them to me at Tully-Veolan.'
'And of what description were those books?'
'They related almost entirely to elegant literature; they were designed
for a lady's perusal.'
'Were there not, Mr. Waverley, treasonable tracts and pamphlets among
them?'
'There were some political treatises, into which I hardly looked. They
had been sent to me by the officiousness of a kind friend, whose heart
is more to be esteemed than his prudence or political sagacity; they
seemed to be dull compositions.'
'That friend,' continued the persevering inquirer, 'was a Mr. Pembroke,
a nonjuring clergyman, the author of two treasonable works, of which the
manuscripts were found among your baggage?'
'But of which, I give you my honour as a gentleman,' replied Waverley,
'I never read six pages.
Pages:
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361