Argyll looked up quickly: “Ye think so?” he asked. He always showed a great respect for his cousin’s opinion, consulted her and deferred to her in a way her husband never did, and she despised him in proportion. “Ye think there is no hope for King James?” he asked again, half-anxiously.
She looked full at him and laughed. “Cousin, cousin,” she cried. “Dinna gang ower far with the Jacks because I dinna imagine that there is much hope for King James.”
He stared at her, went red and white, and his tea-cup danced in his hand.
“Madam!” he gasped.
Her look of amusement deepened.
“I ken vera weel,” she said, “that ye are tampering with King James’s agents—weel, cousin, we all do the same. A wise man will be keeping square with both sides.”
Argyll, looking agitated and foolish, began to protest.
“Cousin, I assure ye that I have na engaged in any treasonable plots—”
She cut him short.
“Ye need no’ be so cautious with me, Cousin Archibald.”