"I wad do naething o' the sort. I wad be keepit back by ony woman. There
is many a ceevil word to say to them, that is just time and strength ta'en
from study. Maggie kens weel, that when I hae my kirk, she'll be first and
foremost wi' me. I'll count nae honor or pleasure worth the having she
doesna share. Forbye, sir, when you hae a hame, and the plenishing o' it,
folk should think lang ere they scatter it to the four winds. It is easy
to get rid o' household things; whiles, it is maist impossible to get them
thegither again. I might die, and Maggie be left to fight her ain battle.
If it should come to that, Hame is a full cup; Hame is a breastwark; you
can conquer maist things on your ain hearthstone."

"Perhaps you are right, David."

"I ken weel I am right. Maggie and I hae thocht o' every thing; her gude
name, and her happiness is my first wish. She is vera dear to me. She is
a' I have, sir."

"I shall not be in Pittenloch for two years, David, so I will pay you now
for the use of my room. The rent I believe is seven shillings weekly, that
is L36. I wish you would give this sum entire to Maggie. I should like her
to feel in some measure independent; and I should like you to feel that
you had no necessity to take thought about her from week to week."

"Thank you, sir, for the kind thocht, as weel as for the siller; and I
shall tell Maggie to keep the knowledge o' it from her aunt, who is a
woman o' a vera parsimonious disposition."

"Also my boat is to be hers. She can hire it out or she can sell it. It is
absolutely her own. It would be folly for me to keep it rocking at anchor,
and rusting away. I can not speak to her on such subjects, but you will be