"Thank you, my dear," he said.
"Ah, lassie, that's a' because your time hasna come yet," remarked Mr. Lilburn. "When it does, you'll be as lovelorn and foolish as the rest."
"Granting that it is foolish for a woman to love her husband," put in Mrs. Dinsmore, sportively.
"A heresy never to be countenanced here," said her spouse; "the husbands and wives of this family expect to give and receive no small amount of that commodity. Do you set off again this morning, Ned?"
"No, sir; not before to-morrow; not then unless Zoe is ready to go with me."
"Quite right, my boy, your wife's health and happiness are, as your mother remarked to me yesterday, of more consequence than any mere business matter."
On leaving the table Edward followed his mother out to the veranda.
"Can I have a word in private with you, mamma?" he asked, and she thought his look was troubled.
"Certainly," she said. "I hope nothing is wrong with our little Zoe?"
"It is of her—and myself I want to speak. I feel impelled to make a confession to you, mother dear, that I would not willingly to any one else. Perhaps you have suspected," he added, coloring with mortification, "that all was not right between us when I left yesterday. She would not have fretted so over my mere absence of a few days, but I had scolded and threatened her the night before, and went away without any reconciliation or even a good-by. In fact, she was asleep when I left the rooms, and knew nothing of my going."