'Tell me how you know that.'
'Well, to-day I only heard of something that—that would be very hard to bear, and I broke down altogether.'
'What was it?'
No answer.
'Was it something your father said?'
She looked up with a flash of inquiry in her eyes.
'Was it something about your going away from here?'
She answered by a look only; a look that was timid, mournful, affectionate, and that had yet another element; for behind all this tenderness and softness, there danced the restless yearning of an eager young spirit.
'Well, and haven't I heard certain people talking about the interesting things that go on in the world, and hinting that Ballater was a slow and tiresome old place, where nothing ever happened worth mentioning?'
She blushed and hung her head a moment, and then began her defence in a very meek voice.