"I feel that I've been neglecting you," I said, trying to talk
cheerfully, "but--I have--there have been great changes in my life--I
have gone to live with--"
"Ay, we ken aboot it," said Marget, "and though we didna understand, we
thocht ye'd come ower in your ain guid time to tell us."
"If we can help you, Mr. Jack," began Tammas quietly, "we will be glad
to do it."
"Thank you, good friends," I said, taking his hand. "I can't explain it
all now; only this," I went on, forcing a smile that I did not feel,
"there has been scheming against me all around, everywhere, since I left
home, and--well," I smiled, "I've been turned out of home,
and--and--everything."
Marget's eyes flashed: "They'll no' turn ye oot o' onything," she cried
hotly, "no' as long as we're here, Tammas an' me. Ye'll jist come ower
and bide wi' us. Here's your room, Mr. Jack. An' Tammas an' me--we
love ye as much as we dae oor ain bairn. I ken fine wha it is. Tammas,
didna I tell ye? It's juist that Braxton Bragg! He's been plotting
against ye ever since he was a wee bairn, an' ye're no' the only one
that he's mistreating; an' it breaks ma heart to think that ony man in
this country whaur we and oor lassie hae lived so correctly, should be
sae bold as to write this, an' it's been wanting to see ye we have, an'
to show it to ye. Ye are a' we hae to protect her, Jack; we are
truthful folks, an' oor lassie is a sweet and pure lass, that has been
a' her life here in this valley, like as to ony lily in it, an' we dinna
think she should be insulted by the like o' that."
She had taken a note from her bosom and handed it to me.
"Haud on a wee, afore ye read it," said Tammas. "Afore ye cam' hame," he
went on, "I didna like his attention to oor lassie, an' the untoward way
he had o' trying to meet her secretly gin she but gaed oot o' oor sicht,
an' ye ken Mr. Jack, hoo fond she was since a bairn, to hunt flo'ers an'
birds on the hills aroun'. Sae very frankly I gaed to him, as I thocht
it my duty to do, an I tell't him we had oor ain plans for the lassie,
an that he was in anither class frae her, an' any attention he showed
her wad be to the hurt o' the lassie, an' it wad be maist unbecoming in
him as a gentleman to persist. Eh, but it maddened me to hear him
explain and pass it a' aff as a joke, an' the flattery o' him fair
scunnert me, it did. But for a' I said till him he didna stop it, but
kept dogging the steps o' the lassie an' writing her love notes. Sae I
gaed till him again an' maist pintedly I made him understaun', that I
wad appeal to his grandfaither for protection. I am a man of peace, but
this maitter has reached its leemit, an' noo we're gaun to turn it ower
to you. Marget an' masel' hae thocht it a' oot, because if ever Elsie
had a brither it's oor Jack," he added. "There's only ae thing mair
I'll be asking ye afore ye act, an' it's jist this, that seeing the
matter's sae delicate an' talking aboot it micht injure oor lassie, I'll
jist ask ye to consult wi' Colonel Goff in the maitter."
"Ay, an' ae day ye'll ken the reason," said Marget very quietly, nodding
approval to Tammas's remarks.
I never was so angry as when I read the letter. I was fighting mad, no
other word will do.
"Where is Elsie?" I asked, controlling myself. "I must talk with our
little lassie."
"Weel, ye see," said Marget, "Jack, I dinna ken. The puir bairn is a'
but crushed--she's just like a lily that has grown a' simmer in the
valley, an' opens for the first time ae morning to find there's such a
thing in God's worl' as rain an' hail."
Tammas came up to me whispering quietly. "We maun tell ye this, Mr.
Jack, it's only fair that ye should ken. We hae keepit' oor ain counsel
a' these years about oor lassie, an' that which we wad like ye to ken
aboot her Colonel Goff will tell ye. But this ye maun ken, there is
behind her on her faither's side that verra intensity of nature so
highly keyed for joy or sorrow, that it has sent mony o' her forbears
amang the gentle leddies o' her hoose to early deaths, even to taking
their ain lives. Ay, Elsie is jist sae like her faither's sister, the
bonnie ane that suicided for love. Eh, but oor hearts are wae aboot oor
bairn. She's shut hersel' in her room a' day, but jist afore ye cam'
she gaed off to the wood ower yonder."
"Ay, ay, if there's ony ane in this worl' that can help us it's you, as
I said to Tammas afore ye cam'. The Lord be thankit for your coming!"
"Ay, but the lassie;--Mr. Jack, would you let them that raised you be
plain to your face as becomes honest folks with those they love?"
I nodded. "Then Elsie cares na' a bawbee for this bold rascallion--it's
you she loves, Mr. Jack, an' wi' a' respect and deference for so
delicate a thing, you'll sune ken that ye hae the love o' a lassie wham
the highest in England and Scotland wad be prood to mate wi'."
At first I could not find her. She was hidden in her favorite place, a
natural arbor of low dogwoods overgrown with a beautiful root of tangled
wild-grape.
I was never before more calm, for the seriousness of it all was on me.
Not only was her own reputation, her future happiness and life at stake,
but that of others also. The hint given me by Marget made things clear.
If I ever needed tact I needed it now. I was ready for any concession
to save her from the position she was in, even to forget Eloise, if I
could.
I decided that it was best that she should not know that I knew
anything. My first glance showed me how seriously she was taking her
trouble. I had never seen such sorrow in her eyes, eyes which now
fought defiantly the gloom that was settling in them, as a child's when
it knows for the first time its mother has died.
I sat down beside her, and without speaking drew her to me. "My little
Heart's-Ease," I said, "you'll let your prince help you?" I let her cry
on my shoulder until she cared to talk--stroking her hair.
"I thought you had forgotten me," she said. "Where have you been so
long?"
"Oh, I had much to do--to think about--that needed doing quickly. First
I had to move and get settled. I live with Dr. Gottlieb now--well--it
is a long story, but I'm--I have no home now, Heart's-Ease."
"You shall live with us if you wish--if you will--Tammas and Marget and
me."