She could not bear, when Hamish, with
advancing life, made repeated steps towards independence,
absented himself from her cottage at such
season, and for such length of time as he chose, and
seemed to consider, although maintaining towards
her every possible degree of respect and kindness,
that the control and responsibility of his actions
rested on himself alone. This would have been
of little consequence, could she have concealed her
feelings within her own bosom; but the ardour
and impatience of her passions made her frequently
show her son that she conceived herself neglected
and ill used. When he was absent for any length
of time from her cottage, without giving intimation
of his purpose, her resentment on his return
used to be so unreasonable, that it naturally suggested
to a young man fond of independence, and
desirous to amend his situation in the world, to
leave her, even for the very purpose of enabling
him to provide for the parent whose egotistical
demands on his filial attention tended to confine
him to a desert, in which both were starving in
hopeless and helpless indigence.
Upon one occasion, the son having been guilty
of some independent excursion, by which the mother
felt herself affronted and disobliged, she had
been more than usually violent on his return, and
awakened in Hamish a sense of displeasure, which
clouded his brow and cheek.
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