The Ross-shire Buffs

"The Ross-shire Buffs" by James Grant is a novel written in the late 19th century. Set between Edinburgh society and forthcoming imperial campaigns, it weaves a military romance with domestic intrigue as young Highlander Gillian Lamond and his cousin Dove Gainswood fall in love under the shadow of her pious, avaricious father and the looming call of the regiment. At the start of the story, Gillian and Dove secretly pledge themselves in Edinburgh’s Botanical Gardens, while her father and his guardian, the outwardly devout lawyer Gideon Gainswood, remains blind—then hostile—to their attachment. Gainswood grudgingly permits an engagement but insists it be kept secret until Gillian’s father, Colonel Lachlan Lamond, replies from India; the Colonel’s warm letter approves the match, though he must first lead a brief frontier expedition before returning to bless the wedding. Meanwhile Gainswood cultivates the newly arrived Prince’s Hussars, especially Lord Campsie, whose smooth attentions to Dove grow bolder after a glittering dinner at the Gainswood home. Gillian’s visit to the Hussar mess chills him: amid snobbish talk of Edinburgh society, he overhears a damning tale of Gainswood’s sharp practice that ruined an officer. Spurred by pique and money needs, Campsie decides to propose, and the scheming lawyer eagerly consents. The opening closes with shattering news from the papers: Colonel Lamond has been killed fighting hill tribes, a blow that devastates Gillian and ominously tightens Gainswood’s grip over the young couple’s future.

The Ross-shire Buffs, by James Grant. Republished by OpenStories from Project Gutenberg eBook #77588.