the cook she answered me back that it wasna
for her tae inquire into the affairs o' her superiors, and that it was
naething to her as long as she did her work and had her wages. They were
puir, feckless bodies, the twa o' them, and would scarce gie an answer
tae a ceevil question, though they could clack lood eneugh when they had
a mind.

Weel, weeks passed into months and a' things grew waur instead o'
better in the Hall. The general he got mair nairvous, and his leddy
mair melancholy every day, and yet there wasna any quarrel or bickering
between them, for when they've been togither in the breakfast room
I used often tae gang round and prune the rose-tree alongside o'
the window, so that I couldna help hearin' a great pairt o' their
conversation, though sair against the grain.

When the young folk were wi' them they would speak little, but when they
had gone they would aye talk as if some waefu' trial ere aboot to fa'
upon them, though I could never gather from their words what it was that
they were afeared o'.

I've heard the general say mair than ance that he wasna frighted o'
death, or any danger that he could face and have done wi', but that it
was the lang, weary waitin' and the uncertainty that had taken a' the
strength and the mettle oot o' him. Then my leddy would console him and
tell him that maybe it wasna as bad as he thocht, and that a' would come
richt in the end--but a' her cheery words were clean throwed away upon
him.

As tae the young folks, I kenned weel that they didna bide in the
groonds, and that they were awa' whenever they got a chance wi' Maister
Fothergill West tae Branksome, but the general was too fu' o' his ain
troubles tae ken aboot it, and it didna seem tae me that it was pairt
o' my duties either as coachman or as gairdner tae mind the bairns.
He should have lairnt that if ye forbid a lassie and a laddie to dae
anything it's just the surest way o' bringin' it aboot. The Lord foond
that oot in the gairden o' Paradise, and there's no muckle change
between the folk in Eden and the folk in Wigtown.

There's ane thing that I havena spoke aboot yet, but that should be set
doon.

The general didna share his room wi' his wife, but slept a' alane in a
chamber at the far end o' the hoose, as distant as possible frae every
one else. This room was aye lockit when he wasna in it, and naebody was
ever allowed tae gang into it. He would mak' his ain bed, and red it up
and dust it a' by himsel',