Guy Mannering.

218 WAVERLEY NOVELS.
assuming, or permitting his household to assume, any of
the faste which then was considered as characteristic of
a nabob.
He had still his eye upon the purchase of Ellangowan,
which MIac-Morlan conceived Mir. Glossin would be compelled to part with, as some of the creditors disputed his
title to retain so large a part of the purchase-money in
his own hands, and his power to pay it was much questioned. In that case Mac-itorlan was assured he would
readily give up his bargain, if tempted with something
above the price which he had stipulated to pay. It may
seem strange that MIannering was so much attached to a
spot which he had only seen once, and that for a short
time in early life. But the circumstances which passed
there had laid a strong hold on his imagination. There
seemed to be a fate which conjoined the remarkable passages of his own family history with those of the inhabitants of Ellangowan, and he felt a mysterious desire to
call the terrace his own, from which he had read in the
book of heaven a fortune strangely accomplished in the
person of the infant heir of that family, and corresponding so closely with one which had been strikingly fulfilled
in his own. Besides, when once this thought had got
possession of his imagination, he could not without great
reluctance brook the idea of his plan being defeated, and
by a fellow like Glossin. So pride came to the aid of
fancy, and both combined to fortify his resolution to buy
the estate if possible.
Let us do Mannering justice. A desire to serve the
distressed had also its share in determining him. He had
considered the advantage which Julia might receive from
the company of Lucy Bertram, whose genuine prudence
and good sense could so surely be relied upon. This idea