William Black was a Scottish novelist born in Glasgow. His novels were popular in the late nineteenth century, especially works such as A Daughter of Heth and A Princess of Thule.
William Black
Macleod of Dare
Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1878.
A small, quaint, old-fashioned house in South Bank, Regent's Park; two maidens in white in the open veranda; around them the abundant foliage of June, unruffled by any breeze; and down at the foot of the steep garden the still canal, its surface mirroring the soft translucent greens of the trees and bushes above, and the gaudier colours of a barge lying moored on the northern side.
The actress Gerty White and her sister are awaiting a visit from Sir Keith Macleod, heir to Castle Dare 'on the high and rocky coast of Mull'. Smitten with Gerty's charms, he is still coming to terms with her way of life.
It was a pretty sort of idleness. It seemed to harmonize with this still, beautiful summer day, and the soft green foliage around, and the still air that was sweet with the scent of the flowers of the lime-trees.
Manly and sensitive but short on small talk, he is embarrassed to be 'talking to an actress about her profession, and not having a word of compliment to say.'
Instead, he praised the noble elms and chestnuts of the Park, the broad white lake, the flowers, the avenues. He was greatly interested by the whizzing by overhead of a brace of duck.
The maidens have suggested a visit to the Zoo, where the snakes give him a nasty turn.