[You don’t know DAVID and JAMES till you know how they love their sister MAGGIE.]
ALICK. I thought that.
DAVID [coming to the second point of his statement about Love]. I saw her reading poetry and saying those words over to herself.
JAMES. She has such a poetical mind.
DAVID. Love. There’s no doubt as that’s what Maggie has set her heart on. And not merely love, but one of those grand noble loves; for though Maggie is undersized she has a passion for romance.
JAMES [wandering miserably about the room]. It’s terrible not to be able to give Maggie what her heart is set on.
[The others never pay much attention to JAMES, though he is quite a smart figure in less important houses.]
ALICK [violently]. Those idiots of men.
DAVID. Father, did you tell her who had got the minister of Galashiels?
ALICK [wagging his head sadly]. I had to tell her. And then I—I—bought her a sealskin muff, and I just slipped it into her hands and came away.