When I got home, and was comfortably seated in my arm-chair by the fire,
Betty came in to set my tea, and I wasn't long in noticing that, from
her abstracted air and the listless way she was moving about, she had
something on her mind. She looked for a moment or two at Bang and Jip
lying comfortably curled up on the hearthrug. 'Thae dugs are braw an'
snug lyin' there,' she said; 'an' my puir Jessie's sittin' in the cauld
stick-hoose in the huff. No' that I grudge them their warm bed, for I'm
gled--he'rt gled--to see them peaceable at last wi' yin anither. It's
nae time since they were girnin' an' fechtin' an' tumblin' ower each
ither frae the Cross to the Gill, an' noo, haith, they canna get ower
cheek-for-chowie. Ye maun ha'e a wonderfu' wey wi' dugs, Maister Weelum.
It's a peety ye couldna exert it in ither weys.'
I know Betty too well to venture assistance, and I had the feeling that
she would soon work her way round to her subject without my aiding and
abetting.
'The kettle will soon be through the boil, an' ye'll get your tea in a
jiffy,' she said. 'Imphm! it's a gey comfortable-lookin' chair, that yin
opposite ye, Maister Weelum; an', d'ye ken, I met a leddy the day that I
wad like to see sittin' in it.'
'Indeed, Betty!'
'Ay. I dinna ken when I was sae much impressed wi' onybody at first
sicht as I was this day; an' when I was sittin' lookin' at her, an'
listenin' to her voice, something whispered in my ear, "That's the wife
for my boy."'
'My goodness, Betty, you're forcing the pace!' I laughingly said. 'First
you wish to see this lady sitting in my chair, and in your next breath
you say you wish to see her my wife! Where did you meet this paragon?'
'Weel, this efternoon, when you an' the dugs were away yer walk, I
slippit in next door juist for a meenit to see hoo they were a' gettin'
on, an', as I usually do, I opened the door withoot knockin' an' walked
strecht ben to the kitchen, an' there, Maister Weelum, sittin' on the
wee laich nursin'-chair at the fireside, was the leddy I speak o'. I
gaed to gang back into the lobby; but Mrs Jardine wadna hear o't, an'
she made me step in, an' she introduced me, quite the thing, mind you.
Ye see, Tom's wife was toon bred, an' she kens a' the weys o't, an' she
mentioned me by name an' the leddy by name; an' if she had been
staunin' in a drawin'-room on a Turkey carpet, an' cled in brocade, she
couldna ha'e dune it better. I juist didna catch the leddy's name, for,
what wi' the suddenness, her bonny face, an' ae thing an' anither, I was
sairly flabbergasted an' putten aboot. It seems, hooever, that she's in
the picter-pentin' line, an' she's ta'en a great fancy to wee Isobel,
an' she's makin' a portrait o' her. A week or twae bygane she saw the
wee lass staunin' at the door as she was passin', an' she was so struck
wi' her bonny wee face an' her lang fair hair that she spoke to her an'
asked to see her mither. Weel, the upshot o' this was that, as I've
said, she is pentin' her, an' a capital picter she's makin'. It's hardly
finished yet. I ken fules an' bairns should never see hauf-dune wark,
an' I'm no' a judge, into the bargain; but I'll say this, photographin'
micht be quicker an' mair o' a deid likeness, but it's no' in it wi' yon
for naturalness and bonny life-like colour. But that's by the wey, as it
were. Her work is guid, withoot a doot, but she hersel's a perfect
picter.'
I felt my heart beginning to thump and throb, and my breath getting
catchy. 'Pity you missed her name, Betty,' I said with forced unconcern.
'Ay, as I telt ye, I was putten aboot, an' missed it; but I'll speir at
Mrs Jardine again, 'at will I.'
'And--and what is the lady like?' I asked, with as much indifference as
I could command.
'Weel, Maister Weelum, I juist canna exactly tell ye. She's yin o' the
few folks ye meet in a lifetime that ye canna judge o' or scrutinise bit
by bit. It's impossible to do that wi' her; you've to tak' her in a' at
aince, as it were; ye ken what I mean--eh?'
I did, and I didn't; but I nodded as if I understood.
'What struck me mair than ocht else,' she continued, 'was her couthie,
affable mainner. To look at her ye wad think that she's a' drawn
thegether--prood-like, ye ken, wi' an almichty set apairt kind o' an
air; but whenever she speaks an' looks at ye, ye've the feelin' that
she's a' roon aboot ye, an' that there's only her an' you in the whole
world. An' she was so composed an' calm, so weel-bred withoot bein'
uppish! Oh, I tell ye she juist talked away to Mrs Jardine an' me as if
we were o' her ain kind. An' when she rose up to gang away, an' was
staunin' her full heicht lookin' doon on us, do you know, Maister
Weelum, she seemed to me to be kind o' glorified, an' the kitchen an' a'
its plenishin's faded frae my sicht, an' a' I was conscious o' was the
kindly glent o' twae big dark een an' the feelin' that I was in the
presence o' some yin by-ordinar'--imphm! An' efter she had gane I
couldna carry on a wiselike conversation wi' Mrs Jardine for listenin'
to the whispered words in my ear, "That's the yin! That's the wife for
Maister Weelum."'
* * * * *
Since the forenights began to lengthen the doctor has got into the way
of dropping in and smoking a quiet, meditative pipe with me over the
chess-board. When he called to-night I drew out the little table with
the squared top, and we settled down to our game. But my mind was not
concerned with bishops, pawns, and knights, and my thoughts kept
careering between Hastie's gate and Mrs Jardine's kitchen. I made an
effort to centre my interest, and to look the part of the keen, zealous
player; but, unfortunately, I cannot dissemble. I lost two pawns very
stupidly, and the doctor looked keenly at me, but said nothing. I
blundered on, and at last I made a move which caused the doctor to
smile. He got up, relit his pipe, and sank into an easy-chair. 'Ah,
William,' he said, 'Love is a tyrant! Heart claimed, thoughts claimed,
all dancing attendance on the enslaver.'
I blushed, and made a show of riping my pipe into the coal-scuttle to
hide my confusion. Then I told him of the meeting on the Carronbrig
road, and of Betty's experience in Mrs Jardine's kitchen.
'The plot thickens, William,' he said as he rose to go; 'and if I were
you I would tell her of your dream next time you meet her. It will
interest her in you; and, you know, once interest is aroused--well, love
will follow. Good-night.'
My picture has arrived, and I have got it hung in a favourable light, in
a place of honour above the mantelpiece. I became quite excited when it
was delivered, and, like a child with a new toy, was impatient to see
it, and to gloat over it. But the lid of the wooden case was tightly
screwed down; and, as a hammer and a saw were the only joinery tools
which Betty possessed, I had to call in Deacon Webster's aid, and Betty,
poor body, got no peace till he arrived with his screwdriver. When at
length the picture was taken out of its packing I noticed there was no
signature in the corner, and this at the time was a keen disappointment
to me; but it has ceased to trouble me now, because I have the feeling
that it will shortly bear the artist's name, and till that time comes,
when I am not admiring her handiwork, I shall just entertain myself
filling the corner space with names which appeal to my mind as fitting
and appropriate.
When I asked Nathan's opinion of my purchase, he looked several times
very deliberately from me to the picture; then, after a pause, informed
me he had 'never till noo seen purple gress.' I explained to him that
this was the purple sunset glow; but he shook his head sceptically, spat
in my fire, and walked slowly ben into the kitchen. Betty, who spent her
early girlhood in the Keir, is delighted that a picture in which her
native parish hills are depicted should be hanging on her walls, and she
was very anxious to know who the painter was, and how it came into my
possession. I just said I was very much interested in the artist, and
that the picture had been sent from Edinburgh. She pointed out to me,
what I hadn't noticed before, that the bright richness of the gold frame
made the others shabby and tarnished-looking, and she warmly advocated
the application of a liquid gold paint which John Boyes retails at
sixpence a bottle, and which, she assures me, 'is liker pure gold than a
sovereign.' Betty dearly loves to dabble in paint. It was Nathan who
acquainted me with this predilection, and he instanced a case of her
blue-enamelling the long hazel crook, the representative staff of the
Ancient Order of Shepherds, which on gala-days he carries in the
procession; and another, when she varnished, with a strange concoction,
a workbox which she has never been able to open since. Knowing this, I
purposely belittled Boyes's liquid, and assured her that in a week or
two our eyes would become so accustomed to the conditions that we
shouldn't distinguish any difference between the frames. It grieves me
very much to thwart Betty; though, truth to tell, I seldom have occasion
to do so, as our opinions on the big things of life, the essentials, are
rarely in conflict, and the smaller we think not worth wrangling over;
so I talked her into a gracious, amenable humour, and ultimately took
leave of the subject in what I considered mutual agreement.
This morning, however, when she brought up my ante-breakfast cup of tea,
she reverted to the subject without any preliminaries. 'Man, Maister
Weelum,' she began, 'I've juist been takin' anither look roon' the
dinin'-room. Noo, since we've got it done up it's the first thing I do
in the mornin' an' the last at nicht; an', do ye know, I feel quite
prood an' important when I'm puttin' a nice white cover on the big
table, an' the silver candelabra in the centre o't. But, oh man, since
yesterday I'm positively he'rt-sorry for thae auld frames. In a mainner
it's my pleesure spoiled; to me it's a case o' deid flies in the
ointment, ye understaun? Imphm! an' I'm gettin' fair angry at the new
yin hangin' oot so prominently an' skinklin' as if to chaw the ithers.
Dod, I imagine it's laughin' an' jeerin' at them. Noo, Maister Weelum,
twae sixpenny bottles o' John Boyes's gold spread oot thin would amaist
do the whole lot, an'--an' I'll put it on mysel'. I'm rale knacky wi' a
brush. It'll no' come to much--imphm! the cost'll be very little. What
think ye?'
'I don't know, Betty, I'm sure. I'm sorry to know the old frames annoy
your eye. Personally I like the old ones better than the new one; but
I'll tell you what, Betty,' I said gleefully, as a happy thought struck
me; 'we'll get the new frame coated over with some sort of stuff to dull
it down a bit. They'll be all alike then. How would that do?'
'It'll no' do at a', Maister Weelum,' she said emphatically. 'That
picter maunna be touched. No! no! It has some history, or I'm cheated.
Time will prove'----
A sudden loud knocking echoed through the house and cut short her
sentence. 'Mercy me, what a bang!' she said. 'That's Milligan the
postman, an' as sure as my name's Betty Grier he'll bash through that
door some day;' and, to my relief--for she was stumbling into 'kittle'
ground--she hurried downstairs.
Since I came here my correspondence has become almost a negligible
quantity. I rarely write to any one, and the few letters I receive are
of a more or less private business character. I had two this
morning--one from the treasurer of my club reminding me my subscription
is due at the end of this month, and the other from my partner, Murray
Monteith, who, after alluding to minor matters, writes as follows:
'Now for the real reason of my troubling you at this time. The Hon. Mrs
Stuart wrote to me yesterday from Nithbank House, near Thornhill, saying
she was desirous of consulting me on a very important subject; but owing
to indisposition she couldn't travel to Edinburgh, and she would be much
obliged if I could make it convenient to call on her at that address any
day next week. I wrote to her by return saying I would travel south on
Wednesday first, and would be with her during the early afternoon of
that day. As you know, I am a stranger to your native county; but I
presume Nithbank House is within driving distance of Thornhill, and as I
am due at the station of that name at 11.30 A.M., I shall thus have
ample time to call on you prior to my visit, and talk over matters with
you.
'The important subject she refers to is, without doubt, in connection
with the affairs of her brother-in-law, the late General Stuart, which,
I regret to say, are still in a most unsatisfactory state, owing to our
inability to unearth a will or to procure any information regarding his
marriage. We have made exhaustive inquiry in every conceivable
direction, but without result; and his daughter, Miss Stuart, must now
be acquainted with the facts as they at present stand. She called here
on the 17th ult., and asked to see you. Ormskirk informed her that you
were at present invalided in the country, and showed her into my room.
We talked over matters in a general way, and I think I managed to
satisfy her on the main points, without giving her any reason to suspect
we were faced with such serious difficulties. But, as I have said, she
must be told now, and I approach this part of the business with
misgivings, as it is a very delicate matter indeed; and, from the little
I have seen of her, I argue she will take it very keenly to heart. For
us to inform her, in our cold, unfeeling legal phraseology, that she is,
in the eyes of the law, illegitimate would be nothing short of brutal,
and I trust we may prevail on her aunt to discharge this unenviable
obligation. I assure you I have no desire to trouble you unnecessarily
at this time with business concerns; but, as you are in the immediate
locality, and are not only acquainted with the parties, but conversant
with all the details of this case, I hope you will see your way to
accompany me to Nithbank. Miss Stuart informed me that she had
transacted business by correspondence only, and that she had not yet met
you. Would this not be a good opportunity for us all to meet and decide
what ought to be done?'
Needless to say, I shall be delighted to receive Murray Monteith here.
We must arrange to have him remain overnight with us, and I shall take
peculiar pleasure in introducing him to Betty and Nathan and Dr
Grierson, types, I feel sure, which he has never met before, but which I
am equally sure he will appreciate. I shall certainly accompany him to
Nithbank House; and I must be prepared to have the vials of the Hon. Mrs
Stuart's wrath poured out upon me when she learns that for almost six
months I have resided within two miles of her, and have not considered
it my duty and privilege to call on her. I am very, very sorry to learn
from Monteith that things have turned out so unfortunately; but somehow
I have dreaded such an outcome all along. And my heart goes out to that
poor girl who is likely to lose her patrimony under the inexorable law
of succession. But, wait now, let me think. Yes, these four thousand
Banku oil shares which her father transferred to her, on her coming of
age, are hers, and cannot be contested; so that, after all, if our worst
fears regarding the property are realised, she will not be penniless. I
wonder if she is a level-headed business girl, and if she knows to what
extent she will benefit from this. Banku oils are worth looking after.
This will be one cheering subject, at least, which we may broach to her.
But, after all, the stigma of illegitimacy remains, and money cannot
make up for that. Poor girl!