The jolly yeoman cut a rasher of bacon, which Cicely
soon broiled, and her father added a swingeing tankard of his best ale.
It was settled, that Edward should remain there till the troops marched
in the morning, then hire or buy a horse from the farmer, and, with
the best directions that could be obtained, endeavour to overtake his
friends. A clean, though coarse bed, received him after the fatigues of
this unhappy day.
With the morning arrived the news that the Highlanders had evacuated
Penrith, and marched off towards Carlisle; that the Duke of Cumberland
was in possession of Penrith, and that detachments of his army covered
the roads in every direction. To attempt to get through undiscovered,
would be an act of the most frantic temerity. Ned Williams (the right
Edward) was now called to council by Cicely and her father, Ned, who
perhaps did not care that his handsome namesake should remain too long
in the same house with his sweetheart, for fear of fresh mistakes,
proposed that Waverley, exchanging his uniform and plaid for the dress
of the country, should go with him to his father's farm near Ullswater,
and remain in that undisturbed retirement until the military movements
in the country should have ceased to render his departure hazardous.
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