INTRIGUES OF SOCIETY AND LOVE Colonel Talbot became more kindly in his demeanour towards Waverley after the confidence he had reposed in him; and as they were necessarily much together, the character of the Colonel rose in Waverley's estimation.

There seemed at first something harsh in his strong expressions of dislike and censure, although no one was in the general case more open to conviction.

The habit of authority had also given his manners some peremptory hardness, notwithstanding the polish which they had received from his intimate acquaintance with the higher circles.

As a specimen of the military character, he differed from all whom Waverley had as yet seen.

The soldiership of the Baron of Bradwardine was marked by pedantry; that of Major Melville by a sort of martinet attention to the minutiae and technicalities of discipline, rather suitable to one who was to manoeuvre a battalion, than to him who was to command an army; the military spirit of Fergus was so much warped and blended with his plans and political views, that it was less that of a soldier than of a petty sovereign.