"Had you a sweetheart?" I asked.
He laughed boisterously to hide his confusion.
"Dozens o' them!" he cried.
"Then why didn't you marry one of them?"
He shook his head.
"Dominie, that's the question." He stared at the grate for a while.
"There was Maggie Adams, a bonny lassie she was. Man, I mind when I
took her to Kirriemair Market . . ." He sighed. "Aye, man, dominie, I
liked Maggie mair than ony o' the others."
"Did she love someone else?" I asked softly.
Dauvit took some time to reply.
"No, man, Maggie wanted me."
"Then the fault lay on your side? You didn't love her!"
Dauvit brought his hand down on the board.
"Goad, man, but I did!"