"Do you read Tennyson?" asked McTavish, apropos of nothing.
"No," said Traquair, slightly nettled. "Burns."
"I am sorry," said McTavish simply; "then you don't know the lines:
'If you are not the heiress born,
And I,' said he, 'the lawful heir,' etc.
do you?"
"No," said Traquair, "I do not."
"It is curious how often a lack of literary affinity comes between two persons and a heart-to-heart talk."
"Let me know," said Traquair, "when you have thought it over."
"I will. And now if you will put me down—?"
He leaped to the ground, lifted his hat to the older man, and, turning, strode very swiftly, as if to make up for lost time, back toward the castle gate.