"That is right. To Neil I will talk a little. A man must seek a good wife with more heart than he seeks gold. Yes, yes; her price above rubies is."
At the very moment Joris made this remark, the elder was speaking for him. When he arrived at home, he found that his wife was out making calls with Mrs. Gordon, so he had not the relief of a marital conversation. He took his solitary tea, and fell into a nap, from which he awoke in a querulous, uneasy temper. Neil was walking about the terrace, and he joined him.
"You are stepping in a vera majestic way, Neil; what's in your thoughts, I wonder?"
"I have a speech to make to-morrow, sir. My thoughts were on the law, which has a certain majesty of its own."
"You'd better be thinking o' a speech you ought to make to-night, if you care at a' aboot saving yoursel' wi' Katherine Van Heemskirk; and ma certie it will be an extraordinar' case that is worth mair, even in the way o' siller, than she is."
The elder was not in the habit of making unmeaning speeches, and Neil was instantly alarmed. In his own way, he loved Katherine with all his soul. "Yes," continued the old man, "you hae a rival, sir. Captain Hyde asked Van Heemskirk for his daughter this afternoon, and an earldom in prospect isna a poor bait."
"What a black scoundrel he must be!—to use your hospitality to steal from your son the woman he loves."
"Tak' your time, Neil, and you won't lose your judgment. How was he to ken that Katherine was your sweetheart? You made little o' the lassie, vera little, I may say. Lawyer-like you may be, but nane could call you lover-like. And while he and his are my guests, and in my house, I'll no hae you fighting him. Tak' a word o' advice now,—I'll gie it without a fee,—you are fond enough to plead for others, go and plead an hour for yoursel'. Certie! When I was your age, I was aye noted for my persuading way. Your father, sir, never left a spare corner for a rival. And I can tell you this: a woman isna to be counted your ain, until you hae her inside a wedding-ring."
"What did the councillor say?"