"Oh, Neil, I wish that all this eloquence and this devotion could be given to a better woman----"
"She doesn't exist," put in the lover stoutly. "Now, tell me about Malcolm. What is the meaning of this horrible thing that has happened, and who told you?"
"He told me himself in last week's letter. Oh, yes--he minds, of course, but he thinks he has been unjustly treated. Somebody is always treating Malcolm unjustly, you know; and, whatever happens, it is always another person's fault."
"But it must be very serious, my dear. Has there been any other communication--anything from his Colonel, or the War Office for the General?"
"No--nothing; and when anything comes I shall intercept it," she replied without the smallest hesitation. "What is concerning me most is that, in about three weeks' time, Malcolm will be at home, loafing about idle in the glen, and I shall never know a moment's ease of mind. That's the redeeming feature of Creagh--it's at least five miles from everywhere. But, of course, he can't be permitted to loaf about. He must find some occupation. I wonder----"
She stopped there, however, and Neil was left to conjecture what it was that she wondered. He would not have been so well pleased had he known that her thoughts had flown with a curious sense of restfulness and hope to the man who had just left them. The hated man had said that the business of his life was to demolish difficulties and to build bridges where none had been before. Could he--or would he--undertake the problem of Malcolm's life?
Kitty returned while that question was still lingering in Isla's mind, and, after a little more desultory talk, the brother and sister took their departure.
"Tell Kitty on the way home, Neil," whispered Isla as she bade him good-bye, her fingers aching under his strong, almost painful, pressure which was intended to convey all the thoughts of which his heart was full.
"Give Aunt Betty my love, and tell her that I will pay her a visit before I go to Creagh," she added. "Yes, of course, tell her about Malcolm too, but don't say too much about it, and, of course, outside Garrion----"
She laid a significant finger on her lip.