Waverley was now considered as a received lover in all the forms. He
was made, by dint of smirking and nodding on the part of the lady of
the house, to sit next to Miss Bradwardine at dinner, to be Miss
Bradwardine's partner at cards. If he came into the room, she of the
four Miss Rubricks who chanced to be next Rose, was sure to recollect
that her thimble, or her scissors, were at the other end of the room,
in order to leave the seat nearest to Miss Bradwardine vacant for his
occupation, And sometimes, if papa and mamma were not in the way to keep
them on their good behaviour, the misses would titter a little. The old
laird of Duchran would also have his occasional jest, and the old lady
her remark. Even the Baron could not refrain; but here Rose escaped
every embarrassment but that of conjecture, for his wit was usually
couched in a Latin quotation. The very footmen sometimes grinned too
broadly, the maid-servants giggled mayhap too loud, and a provoking
air of intelligence seemed to pervade the whole family. Alice Bean, the
pretty maid of the cavern, who, after her father's MISFORTUNE, as she
called it, had attended Rose as fille-de-chambre, smiled and smirked
with the best of them.
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