The sting of her brother’s words was in the last sentence, but it was the first part that Shenac answered.
“You know very well, Hamish, that I never speak of Angus Dhu except to you—not even to my mother.”
“You have spoken to Dan—at least, you have spoken in his hearing. What do you think I heard him saying the other day to Shenac yonder?”
“Shenac yonder” was the youngest daughter of Angus Dhu, so called by the brothers to distinguish her from their sister, who was “our Shenac” to them. Other people distinguished between the cousins as they had between the fathers. One was Shenac Bhan; the other, Shenac Dhu.
“I don’t know,” said Shenac, startled. “What was it?”
“Something like what you were saying to me just now. You may think how Shenac’s black eyes looked when she heard him.”
Shenac was shocked.
“She would not mind what Dan said.”
“No. It was only when Dan told her that you said it that she seemed to mind,” said Hamish gravely.
“Dan had no business to tell her,” said Shenac hotly; then she paused.