'I got leave yesterday mornin' an' catched the first train to
Aberdeen——'
'Oh! . . . What on earth took you to Aberdeen?'
'Christina,' he exclaimed, 'dinna speak like that! I gaed to
Aberdeen because I couldna thole it ony mair.'
'Thole what?'
'Oh, ye ken! . . . Maybe I had nae business to be vexed at ye for gaun wi' Aunt Purdie, but oh, Christina dear, I wisht ye hadna gaed.'
He dropped his gaze and continued: 'I'm tellin' ye I gaed to
Aberdeen because something seemed to ha'e come betwixt us, because
I——' He stuck. Confession in the face of stern virtue is not so
easy, after all.
'Pity you had the long journey,' she said airily, 'but you ought to have stopped for a day or two when you were there. Aberdeen is a delightful city.' She turned and surveyed the shelves above her.
His look then would have melted the heart of any girl, except this one who loved him.
'Christina,' he said piteously, 'it wasna a' ma fau't.'
Leisurely she faced him.