“Hoots! wad ye merry yer mither!” cried Agnes, and to Cosmo’s fresh dismay burst into laughter and tears together. I believe it was the sole time in her life she ever gave way to discordant emotion.
Cosmo stared speechless. It was as if an angel had made a poor human joke! He was much too bewildered to feel hurt, especially as he was aware of no committed absurdity.
But Aggie was not pleased with herself. She choked her tears, crushed down her laughter, and conquered. She took his hand in hers.
“I beg yer pardon, Cosmo,” she said; “I shouldna hae lauchen. Lauchin’, I’m sure, ’s far eneuch frae my hert! I kenna hoo I cam to du ’t. But ye’re sic a bairn, Cosmo! Ye dinna ken what ye wad hae! An’ bein’ a kin’ o’ a mither to ye a’ yer life, I maun lat ye see what ye’re aboot—I wadna insist ower sair upo’ the years atween ’s, though that’s no a sma’ maitter, but surely ye haena to be tellt at this time o’ day, ’at for fowk to merry ’at dinna loe ane anither, is little gien it be onything short o’ a sin.”
“I hae aye loed you, Aggie,” said Cosmo, with some reproach in his tone.
“Weel du I ken that. An ill hert wad be mine gien it didna tell me that! But, Cosmo, whan ye said the word, didna your hert tell ye ye meant by ’t something no jist the verra same as ye inten’ it me to un’erstan’ by ’t?”
“Aggie, Aggie!” sighed Cosmo, “I wad aye loe ye better an’ better.”
“Ay, ye wad, gien ye cud, Cosmo. But ye’re ower honest to see throu’ yersel’; an’ I’m no sae honest but I can see throu’ you. Ye wad merry me ’cause ye’re no wullin’ to pairt wi’ me, likin’ me better nor ony but ane, an’ her ye canna get! Gien I was a leddy, Cosmo, maybe I michtna be ower prood to tak ye upo’ thae terms, but no bein’ what I am. It wad need love as roon ’s a sphere for that. Eh, but there micht come a time o’ sair repentance! Ance merried upo’ you, gien I war to tak it intil my heid ’at I was ae hair i’ yer gait, or ’at ye was ae hair freer like wi me oot o’ yer sicht, I wad be like to rin to the verra back-wa’ o’ creation! Na; it was weel eneuch as we hae been, but merried! Ye wad be guid to me aye, I ken that, but I wad be aye wantin’ to be deid, ’at ye micht loe me a wee better. I say naething o’ what the warl’ wad say to the laird o’ Glenwarlock merryin’ his servan’ lass; for ye care as little for the warl’ as I du, an’ we’re baith some wiser nor it. But efter a’, Cosmo, I wad be some oot o’ my place—wadna I noo? The hen-birds nae doobt are aye the soberer to luik at, an’ haena the gran’ colours nor the gran’ w’ys wi’ them ’at the cocks hae; but still there’s a measur in a’ thing: it wad ill set a common hen to hae a peacock for her man. My sowl, I ken, wad gang han’ in han’, in a heumble w’y, wi’ yours, for I un’erstan’ ye, Cosmo; an’ the day may come whan I’ll luik fitter for yer company nor I can the noo; but wha like me could help a sense o’ unfitness, gien it war but gaein’ to the kirk side by side wi’ you? Luik at the twa o’ ’s noo i’ the munelicht thegither! Dinna ye see ’at we dinna match?”
“A’ that wad be naething gien ye loed me, Aggie.”
“Gien ye loed me, say, Cosmo—loed me eneuch to be prood o’ me! But that ye dinna. Exem’ yer ain hert, an’ ye’ll see ’at ye dinna.—An’ what for sud ye!”