"Drumloch will be well off with such a laird. I would not fret yourself
one moment, uncle. There is more good in a disappointment than can be
seen."

"God bless you, my dearie! Allan is blind, and deaf, and foolish, or he
would never have taken 'no' from you."

"He is in love, uncle. That accounts for everything. Do you know where he
was during his last absence?"

"On the east coast, making pictures. The two he gave me are wonderful. He
has genius certainly; the Campbells mostly have genius. I had siller to
make, or I could have painted pictures myself. I have a remarkable
perception anent color."

"He was in the Fife fishing villages."

"And a very good place for subjects. The Fife fishers are a fine race
--faithful, religious, handsome."

"Very handsome, I should think. Did you notice the woman in the pictures
Allan gave you?"

"Yes, I did; a splendid study in both cases."

"Have you been in Allan's room lately?"

"Not since he returned home."