Part 43 (2/2)
”And what thought ye o' Willie himself?” asked Miss Jean, when Mr Dawson was telling her all this, after he had been at home a day or two.
”Is he likely to be such a man as his father was?”
”There's mair o' him than ever there would ha'e been o' his father, if he had been spared, poor man. He is much thought of by his employers.
I thought him stiff at first. But he thawed out and was cordial and kindly after a little. He would have made the Englishman very welcome to go with him, if he had keepit in the same mind till he sailed. But I doubt, as Jean once said o' him, he would have found him a heavy handfu'
ere a' was done. I ken no greater misfortune that can befall a man than to have nothing to do in the world.”
”He has his soldiering?”
”No, he hasna even that now, and he is unfortunate in caring little for the occupations that seem to pa.s.s the time for folk o' his cla.s.s. He is coming north again, he says, and I dare say we'll get a sight o' him.”
”He was ay an idle man, even when he was a poor man.”
”Yes. But I ay think he might have been made something of, if the right woman would have taken him in hand.”
Miss Jean could not agree with him.
”And whether or no', he needna come north to find her,” said she.
”No, I suppose not, but it is a pity.”
”George, man! I canna but wonder to hear you,” said his sister gravely.
”Weel, he has a kind heart, and I canna but be sorry for him. And he is a perfect gentleman.”
”Being sorry for him is one thing, and being willing to give him our best is another,” said Miss Jean, with a sharpness that made her brother smile. ”But I'm no' feared--”
Miss Jean paused. She was not quite sure that she had nothing to fear.
To her it seemed that the Englishman had been wonderfully constant--”for the like o' him”--and she was not quite so sure of Jean as she used to be.
One day while her father was away, they had been speaking of Mr Dawson's wish that George should take his bride to Saughleas. Jean had said the best way to settle it would be for her to go away to a house of her own and then George could not refuse to take Marion to Saughleas.
”Weel,” said her aunt, ”I dare say that might be brought about, if you could bring your mind to it.”
”I'll bide a wee,” said Jean laughing, but her face grew grave enough in a minute or two.
”I have ay thought myself of some use to my father and George, but now George is away, and even my father would be content with Marion in my place.”
”That is scarcely the most cheerful way to look at it, or the wisest.
And it's no' like you, Jean, my dear.”
”Are you thinking that I am jealous of Marion, Aunt Jean? No, it is not that I love her dearly, and I am glad for George, and for my father, since he is pleased. But are you sure that it gave _you_ no pang to give up your brother to Mary Keith?”
Miss Jean smiled, and shook her head.
”I was growing an old woman even at that time. No, though she was almost a stranger to me, I was only glad for George. They loved one another.”
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